Through Nalissa's Eyes
by Green Eyed Gerudo
Summary: The story of Nalissa my OC , Ganondorf's daughter with Nabooru, and her thoughts on Ganondorf and him trying to make her follow in his path of evil. The OC's are all from my story "Buried In The Desert Sands", so I'd recommend reading that before this.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: For those of you who don't know, this is a story based off of one of my main OC's from my story titled "Buried In The Desert Sands". If you haven't read it, I'd recommend you read it or at least skim through it for this story to make even the least bit of sense. This is a story I asked my reviewers from my previously mentioned story about whether I should make it or not, and they all really liked the idea, so this is my way of thanking them for all the wonderful reviews of "Buried In The Desert Sands". =]**

**So this is the story of Nalissa, Nabooru and Ganondorf's daughter, and the first chapter is going to be through no one's point of view because it focuses on when Nabooru was banished and Kali was trying to pass off Nalissa as her own…and it would be hard to see life through a 1 year-old's point of view…but the chapters after this will be in Nalissa's POV.**

**Enjoy!!**

Chapter 1

"So Ganon, what are we going to do about all of the Gerudos who distrust you…like Katara, for example?" Kali asked, admiring the new ring Ganondorf had given her. It used to be Nabooru's, but now it was all hers…just like her husband. Kali smiled wickedly at this thought. Ganondorf laid next to her in their new bed...well for Kali, it was a new bed. He bit his lip in thought.

"The witches have been studying up on brainwashing…I bet I could brainwash all those women into following me." He said. Kali stared at him.

"Brainwashing?" she asked.

"Yes. By magic. I bet Kotake and Koume would help me brainwash anyone who opposes me."

"I think you should…especially Katara. I heard that Travana was walking by the medical ward two days ago and she heard Nabooru telling Katara to try and bust Nalissa out." Ganondorf laughed at this.

"There isn't a chance. We never let Nalissa out of our sight and even if she did manage to bust her out, she'd get caught and put to death immediately. But if it calms you, I will brainwash her, and everyone else foolish enough to oppose me…I bet I could even brainwash the king of Hyrule if I wanted to." Kali smiled.

"So, Ganon…when are we going to–" her question was interrupted by a loud scream from the baby's room.

"Mama!" baby Nalissa called. Kali sighed and got out of bed and put her robe on.

"I'll be back as soon as I get the baby to sleep." She said, kissing him.

When she arrived in Nalissa's room, she lifted the baby out of her crib and cradled her.

"Want Mama!" the one year-old said.

"I'm Mama now." Kali told her.

"No…you Cati! You Cati! Me want Mama!" the child protested. Kali glared. Nabooru had allowed Nalissa to call her 'Cati'…an offensive word in Gerudo.

"Don't say Cati…it's a bad word. My name is Mama." She tried to tell the baby. The baby blinked confusedly and pointed at Kali.

"Mama?"

"Yeah, I'm your Mama."

"Dada?"

"Dada's in the bedroom." The baby stared curiously then began to whine again.

"Mama! Want Mama!" she screeched, tears pouring down her bronze face. Kali groaned in annoyance. So getting the baby used to things was going to take awhile.

***

It took a while, but eventually Kali managed to get baby Nalissa back to sleep. Kali took off her robe and crawled back in bed next to Ganondorf.

"Sorry it took so long." She said. Ganondorf shook his head.

"Used to it." He replied, wrapping his arm around his new fiancée as she laid beside him.

"It's going to take a long time to get her used to me." Kali mumbled.

"No, don't worry. She's young still. I bet within a few month's time, she'll forget all about Nabooru." Kali nodded and put her head on Ganondorf's bare chest, closing her eyes.

"Ganon?"

"Yes, Love?"

"When are we going to get married?"

"Hmm…how about tomorrow?" Kali's head shot up at this.

"Tomorrow??"

"Yeah. Is there a problem with tomorrow?" Kali smiled and shook her head.

"No, not at all…I'm just shocked! You want to get married this fast??" she smiled even bigger at the idea.

"Yes. We could either have it private with just a few girls from each color rank or we could make it a public wedding…"

"Let's go public, and then you can announce your plans for brainwashing each woman that opposes you! You'll have them all trapped in one room, too." Kali said. Ganondorf smiled.

"That's actually not a bad idea…and we can begin the brainwashing after. It doesn't take long to brainwash someone. I'll be done with everyone by nighttime and I'll have my new wife all to myself." He said, smiling. Kali smiled and laid her head back on his chest.

"I love you." She murmured. Ganondorf kissed the top of her head.

"And I love you." He said, blowing out the candle on the nightstand.

***

Katara glared in disgust as Kali and Ganondorf kissed during the wedding. It was bad enough seeing the man that had previously been married to her best friend marry the woman he had cheated on her with, but it was even worse that it had to be Kali…notorious and well-hated around the fortress…especially by Nabooru.

All Gerudos had been forced to attend. Otherwise she wouldn't have shown up.

She stared over at the Twinrova sisters – the witches. They were whispering to each other from the other side of the room, and they kept looking over at Katara.

"Do you distrust the king as I do?" a girl suddenly asked Katara. Katara looked at the girl. It was one of her past students: Travana.

"Yeah, but what can we do?" the girl smiled and nodded.

"I know, right?" she said, walking away and scribbling something on a piece of paper. Katara stared in confusion at the girl.

The priestess said a few more things, then Travana walked up to Ganondorf and handed him the slip of paper, whispering something in his ear. Ganondorf nodded and mumbled something to the priestess.

"The king has an announcement he would like to make." The priestess said.

"Your attention, Gerudos." He said loudly. "First of all, I'd like to congratulate my high branch of Elites, who had yet another successful raid in Hyrule Castle Town the other night." There was a round of applause. "I'd also like to thank my supporters for your dedication in serving me." There was another round of applause. "And I'd like to mention that Nabooru is welcome back to the desert and she still will be my second-in-command, however due to some…jealousy issues she had with me marrying Kali…" Katara rolled her eyes. Jealousy…yeah right. "…She is soon to be under a heavy brainwashing spell and her headquarters will be in the Spirit Temple." Ganondorf's followers applauded loudly at this, while the people who supported him less gave weaker applause, and people like Katara who absolutely despised the king gave no applause at all. Instead they all gasped loudly.

"What?!" Katara shouted, just loud enough for Ganondorf to hear. Ganondorf turned his attention to her and glared.

"And I'd also like to mention that thanks to Travana here, who is one of my major supporters and also a spy...or double-agent, if you'd prefer to call her…here in my hand, I have a list of the names of all of the Gerudos who oppose me, which were all acquired throughout the last few days or so." All the Gerudos that had foolishly confided in Travana – Katara included – stared in shock. Ganondorf smirked at all their dumbstruck expressions. "Now, I should just execute you all…" everyone gasped at this. "…But what's the fun in that? No, I've something much better in mind. The Twinrova sisters over there…" he pointed. "…Have been reading up on magical brainwashing and they are going to assist me today in brainwashing each woman on this list into following me." Everyone gasped in shock, except for the people that already supported Ganondorf as king. Ganondorf smiled and pointed at Katara. "And we will start right at this moment…with you, Katara." Everyone in the room turned their attention to her. Katara backed away.

"What? You're crazy…no! I'd honestly prefer to be put to death!" she shouted.

"Katara, I have witnesses that claim they heard you planning on breaking Nalissa out of the fortress and escaping with her. For this you are being demoted to a Red. Also, it's clearly obvious you are probably one of the Gerudos that disagree with me the most. You had the nerve to stand up to me quite a number of times while I was with Nabooru. You are to see me as your king, and you will show me the respect I deserve. " Katara didn't know what else to do but run. So that's what she did.

"Seize her!" Ganondorf shouted. The Twinrova sisters darted after her, laughing maniacally.

Katara burst through the door and took off into the sunlight.

"Once you retrieve her, bring her to the throne room! And Elites, seize every girl on this list!" she heard Ganondorf shout.

Katara ran and ran, but the witches were advancing towards her on their broomsticks. Finally one threw a spell at her. Katara screamed in pain as she was knocked down to the sandy floor. The witches caught up with her, and each one grabbed one of her arms and began to lead her towards the throne room. Katara kicked, screamed, and dragged her feet…she did anything she could to try to prevent it.

"Keep quiet, annoying girl!" the one with the ruby shouted, silencing her with a painful spell. Once they began nearing the throne room, Katara spoke up again.

"Why are you doing this? Just kill me instead!" she shouted.

"King's orders." Said the one with the sapphire, also throwing a spell.

"No…I'm not letting him brainwash…" the witches each threw about three or four spells at her, and by the time they finished, she was too weak to stand on her own, let alone try to run away.

Finally they entered the throne room, where Ganondorf was smiling wickedly.

"It took a little longer than I would expect from you two, Kotake and Koume." He told them.

"Our deepest apologies, your highness. But this girl was rather difficult." Koume said as she kicked the backsides of Katara's knees, causing her to fall to her knees in front of the king. Ganondorf stood up and smirked.

"That's fine, she won't be difficult at all after I finish, now will she?" he said, tipping her chin up to make her face him.

"Get your disgusting hand off of my face." She spat, although she was still weak. The witches each held one of her wrists tightly so there was no way she could escape. Ganondorf's smirk faded and he backhanded her, but she didn't fall over because the witches still had a hold on her.

"How dare you talk to your king like that?!" Kotake shouted.

"He's not my king." Katara said, breathing heavily. "He just happened to be apart of the same race as me and be the only male of the century. It's really just an unfortunate coincidence." Kotake began to prepare a spell in her free hand, but Ganondorf stopped her by raising his hand.

"No, it's alright. She's weak enough. We need her conscious for this..._painful _process." He told her, emphasizing the word painful and smirking down at Katara.

"Just kill me." Katara spat. "I'd rather be dead than be forced to serve you."

"We should get started, your highness. We have a bunch more girls to get started on after her." Koume interrupted. Ganondorf nodded.

"Very well. Make sure you keep a good hold on her wrists so she can't get away and mess up the whole process." He told them. He suddenly grabbed the top of Katara's head in his monstrous hand and began to chant in ancient Hylian. A dramatic, painful burning sensation shot from Katara's head and throughout every inch of her body. Ganondorf smiled evilly and continued chanting as Katara's screams of agony rang throughout the throne room.

About one minute later, he let go, and the witches followed suit, causing Katara to fall to the floor weakly.

"Wait for it…" he murmured. Suddenly Katara shot up, her brown eyes now dull in color and lifeless.

"Your majesty," she greeted, bowing to him. Ganondorf laughed maniacally.

"Bring the next girl in. I want to be finished with this before nightfall." He told the witches, smirking down evilly at the now-brainwashed Katara.

**A/N: Okay, so this is the "intro" I guess you could call it. The next chapter will be approximately four-five years later or so, so the story can be through Nalissa's POV. I did this to go over what happened when Kali and Ganondorf got married and how they began to confuse Nalissa into thinking that Kali was her new mother. I also wanted to go over how Ganondorf brainwashed everyone.  
Remember to review please!! =]**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara.**

**A/N: Enjoy!!**

Chapter 2

_"Dada." A sweet voice called in the middle of the night. Thinking she was just dreaming, the woman sighed and rolled over. "DADA?" a voice called again. She disregarded the noise once again. Soon the sound of an infant whining filled the chambers. The Gerudo woman shot out of bed._

_"Nalissa?" she called. "Don't worry, Mommy's coming, sweetie!" she called, rushing towards the baby's room. She found the small child in her crib with a tear-streaked face. The woman held her in her arms and softly sang to her in Gerudo. The baby calmed down dramatically, and once she got her to stop crying completely, she looked down at the precious baby in her arms. "Poor girl, you probably woke up alone and in the dark frightened, didn't you?" she whispered. The baby looked up at her. "You're so tiny and precious right now…one day I bet you'll be a fearsome Gerudo warrior! There will be not one Hylian who isn't afraid of you!" the baby seemed to listen to her mother speak, despite the fact she didn't quite understand. Her mother's voice seemed to calm her down though. Sensing this, the woman continued to speak. "You know, sweetie, I used to be afraid of the dark too, up until I was thirteen." She smiled at the memory. "The dark and sandstorms. One night during a sand storm, I was alone in my old room. It was dark and I was scared. There was a baby goat trapped outside. I knew it belonged to a Gerudo, and she'd be disappointed if it got hurt. I wanted to get it, but I was scared. But then I realized that there's nothing wrong about being scared, but to face my fears would make me less scared. So even though it was dark and there was a sandstorm and I was frightened, I got up on my feet and darted out for that goat, grabbed it, and brought it into my room to wait out the sandstorm. When the sandstorm let up, and all the Gerudos came out to see if there was any damage done to the fortress, I brought the goat outside. Just so turns out the owner of the goat was an Elite. I explained to her how I got the goat, and she was so impressed with my bravery, a week later on my fourteenth birthday, she arranged a test for me to see if I had what it takes to get promoted to a Green. And guess what? I did." The woman smiled at the memory, and it seemed she was talking to herself rather than her baby. "I learned that even though you're scared, it pays to face your fears and be strong. So remember, sweetheart, even if you're scared, always stay…" she looked down at her baby, realizing she really had been talking to herself after all. Baby Nalissa was fast asleep in her arms. "…Strong." She finished with a smile. She kissed the baby on her forehead and put her back in her crib. "I love you, Nalissa." She whispered._

_Walking back to her room, she heard the baby scream again._

_"Dada! Dada!" she cried. Her eyes widened._

_"Did you say…?"_

_"Dada!" Nalissa screamed. The woman dashed over to her crib. "Dada!"_

_"You said your first word! I didn't just imagine it after all." She said with a smile. Nalissa stopped crying and stared up at her mother._

_"Dada?" Nalissa seemed to be asking for her daddy. The woman sighed and leaned over her crib._

_"I'm sorry, sweetie. Dada's not home right now. He has to take care of some…uh, king business." The baby continued to cry. "Don't worry, sweetie. He'll be back soon. Mama's here; Mama will take care of you." The baby looked at her._

_"Dada?"_

_"No, sweetie. Mama."_

_"Dada?"_

_"No, Mama's home."_

_"Ma-ma?" the woman's face lit up._

_"Holy Din, you've said your first two words in one night. You're an intelligent baby!" Nalissa stared and put her little hand on the woman's cheek._

_"Mama?"_

_"Yes." The woman said, smiling. She placed her hand over her baby's, which still rested on her cheek. "I'm Mama."_

_"Mama." The baby said, this time less so in a questioning way, but more in a decisive way, like she was telling herself this was her mama for future reference._

_"Yes." The woman said, smiling. She decided to let the baby sleep with her for the night so she wouldn't be so frightened._

I shoot up suddenly at a loud smacking sound.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH!" I hear my father, Ganondorf, scream at my mother, Kali. I sigh, rubbing my tired eyes. I really wish he'd stop hitting her and yelling all the time.

"Ganon, please…I didn't mean…" there's another slap, and a loud thud. I sigh and turn over, pulling my pillow over my head to try and shut out the argument.

My father, Ganondorf, is the king of the Gerudos. My mother, Kali, is married to him. For as long as I can remember, my father's always been really abusive to her. It's weird seeing her cower before him when he's angry, because my mother is a fierce Red. She used to be an Elite, but she got demoted a long time ago for some reason that she never really got into explaining to me. My mother is a really powerful Gerudo warrior, and she doesn't let any woman mess with her…I don't understand why all of the sudden when my father's angry, she becomes an obedient little slave to him.

Come to think of it, all the Gerudos are like that. They're all fierce and scary, but in front of my father, they cower and bow to his feet. I understand he's the king and all, and everyone fears him, but it's just so weird to see…

"NALI!" my father's booming voice rings out through the royal chambers. I wish he'd leave me out of it for once…

I pretend to be asleep, but he shouts again.

"NALI! GET OUT HERE!!"

"She's asleep, Ganon…"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE! I'LL WAKE HER LITTLE ASS UP IF I HAVE TO!" he shouts. I shoot out of bed and open the door and begin walking to the family room.

When I enter, my mom's on the floor crying with a bright red left cheek, and my father's standing, angry.

"Yes, Daddy?" I say as calmly as possible.

"Did you take my rapier?" I stare confusedly.

"Oh, the black one that Twinrova gave you?"

"Yes, did you?" he demands, his expression getting angrier by the second.

"No, I didn't." I say. I'm telling the truth. He angrily turns to my mom.

"You did take it, didn't you?!" he shouts at her. I stare in amazement. I knew my dad has been short-tempered lately, but getting this angry over a missing sword was just plain ridiculous.

"Ganon, I swear I didn't…"

"Daddy, you didn't hit her just because you thought she took your rapier, did you?" I ask as calmly as possible. Farore, please don't let him get angry with me for asking that…

But he just turns to me and shakes his head.

"Of course not. I asked her about it and she decided to get a little attitude with me." He says, shooting her a glare.

"Daddy, maybe you left it in the training grounds by accident. You were training there earlier today, remember?" I say. He turns to me again.

"Oh, perhaps it is…I'll send an Elite to go search for it first thing in the morning. Clever girl." He says, patting my head. He turns to my mother. "Go to bed. I'll be there in a minute. I need to have a little…talk with you." He says. My mom looks over at me then over at my dad, then nods, gets up, and walks towards the bedroom. When she shuts the door, he turns to me again. "Was there something you wanted to tell me?" he asks.

"Hmm?" I say.

"You're looking at me like you want to say something."

"Oh, right…" I say. What I really want to tell him is to be nicer to my mother, but he'll get angry with me if I say that. "Today I went to the archery range, and I scored 1,800 points." He raises his eyebrows and nods in approval.

"Impressive…not bad for a six year-old." He says. "I scored 2,000 by the time I was five, but not bad…not bad at all…" he says. My smile turns into a frown.

Every time I try to make him proud of me, he always has some type of comparison to make…like when he was this age, he did this…or when he was this age, he did that…

The one thing I've always longed for him to say was, "I'm proud of you, Nali". But I've never heard it. I fear I never will.

"Aren't you…proud…of me?" I ask, choking on the word "proud". He looks at me suddenly.

"Well there's still some room for improvement, now isn't there?" he says, smirking. I look down dejectedly. "Now, Nali…don't be disappointed. Try to score a perfect score of 2,000. I bet with some more practice, you'll succeed." He says.

"I guess…" I mumble, playing with a strand of my long, red hair.

"Go back to bed. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Nali." He tells me, gently pushing me towards my room. I nod and disappointedly make my way back to my room.

***

When I wake up, I can hear the Twinrova twins' voices, conversing in the family room. I hop out of bed and run out to greet them.

"Grandma Kotake and Koume!" I say, hugging each of them. They're technically like my father's surrogate mothers or something, so they insist on me calling them "grandma".

"Nali," Koume greets with a smile.

"Are they starving you?" Kotake asks, causing Koume and me to stare at her. "Look at this, Koume!" she shouts, pinching my stomach. "She needs more muscle on her, like her dad! She's scrawny!" Koume laughs.

"Don't worry, Kotake. She's only six. She'll grow." Then she turns to me. "Are they starving you?" she asks, her eyes suddenly narrowing.

"What? No!" I say, kind of embarrassed that they're making fun of my stature.

"Alright. Sit, child." Kotake says. I sit on the floor as she sits on the couch and begins to braid my hair. "Speak to us. We haven't seen you in a while."

"Grandma Kotake, I keep having this weird, recurring dream…" I say, but then I pause. Should I tell them? I haven't told anybody, not even my dad, and I wonder if it's even a big deal, anyway…

"Tell us, child." Koume says. I nod.

"Okay. Well, it's of a baby and a mother…I think the baby is supposed to be me, but the woman who is the baby's mother isn't Kali…it's not my mom." I stare in confusion as Kotake and Koume exchange odd glances.

"Who's the mother?" Kotake asks, almost suspicious-sounding.

"I don't know. It's a woman I've never seen before." I admit. "I must say, she's really pretty…she's a Gerudo, with my red colored hair, but her skin is lighter than the average Gerudo…it's like my skin, well, how my skin naturally is." I look down at my tan arms. Normally I'm lighter than this, but I've been constantly going out in the hot desert sun, so now I'm starting to look more like my dad, who's really dark.

"I see." Kotake says, staring at her sister. I look back and forth between the two confusedly. I could almost swear they're the same person…they always seem to know what the other is thinking.

"Anything else, Sweetie?" Koume asks.

"The baby cries in the middle of the night for her dada, and the woman cradles the baby and tells the baby that dada's not home…mama's home." I close my eyes and let myself relive the dream. It was almost like…a memory from my past.

Now Kotake and Koume are really starting to make me nervous. They're looking at each other oddly. They begin conversing in ancient Gerudo…a dialect I completely don't understand…

"Okay, Sweetie. You may go play." Kotake says suddenly. I feel my hair, which is now in a long braid.

"Thank you, Grandma Kotake and Koume, for stopping by." I say, running out of the chambers and into the desert sun.

**A/N: So this is one of my first actual stories in someone's POV. And about the witches…a lot of people have different ideas about whether they're the same person (Twinrova) or not…so I don't know if anyone noticed, but that's what I was making Nalissa refer to when she says, "I could almost swear they're the same person…they always seem to know what the other is thinking". She doesn't know that they can combine.**

**And she really wants Ganondorf to be proud of her…do you remember the awful things he said about her to Nabooru in "Buried In The Desert Sands"? Like how he didn't really care about Nalissa but he is her father and she will do whatever to make him proud? He knows this, and he intentionally refuses to show the girl he's proud of her because he wants her to always try that much harder to make him proud, and it will eventually get to the point that she'll start doing anything for him…even killing people for him.  
Remember to review please!! =]**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**A/N: Enjoy!! =]**

Chapter 3

When I return from my practices, my mom and dad are in the family room, discussing political business. At least they're not arguing again…

"Nali, you turn seven in five days!" my mom shouts excitedly. I blink in surprise. I almost forgot my own birthday.

"Oh yeah…" I say, taking off my weapons and laying them against the wall.

"Do you want another party?" she asks. I shake my head.

"No thank you…I just want a simple birthday this year. Just you, Daddy, and me." I say. How I long for one night of peace when my family can be together and just enjoy each other's company without arguing for once. My hope falters when I see my dad shake his head.

"I can't, Nali…I'm going to be out in Hyrule all next week." He tells me. I sigh.

"Daddy, do you always have to be gone so often?" I mumble. My mom shoots him an odd look and he looks back at me.

"Well Nali, I am the king…plus I need to find the other two Triforce pieces." He says, removing his glove and showing me the back of his hand. The Triforce of Power glows brilliantly on it. "Don't you want our people…no, you and your mom…to have a better life?" I sigh and nod.

"Yes, Daddy." I say.

"Ganon," my mom says, giving him another weird look.

"Why don't you two throw a party and enjoy yourselves? I'll bring you back a present, okay Nali?" he says. I nod and walk to my room without a word.

***

"Ganon, why don't you try to make time for your daughter? She's six! She needs her dad!" I hear my mom shout at my dad from my room.

"Kali, you know I'm busy…I'll be able to make much more time for her once I get the rest of the Triforce pieces."

"That could take years, Ganon! The princess went into hiding five years ago and that Link kid disappeared since he led you into the Sacred Realm! Your daughter's trying to reach out to you and you're not even there for her!" I hear my father sigh at this. There's some mumbling but I don't really want to hear any more, so I pull the pillow over my head as routine.

About a minute later, my door swings open. I can tell it's my dad from the clang of his armor every time he takes a step.

"Nali," he says.

"What?" I mumble with my face in my pillow.

"I want to apologize if I've been…unsupportive, lately…"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You know, with you…" I sigh. He always trails off when he can't find the right words to say. "Like at the archery range the other day, for example. I'm sorry if I didn't seem proud of you. And about your birthday…I'll bring you back a gift. I promise."

"Are you proud of me, Daddy?" I ask, turning to face him. He sighs and takes a seat at the foot of my bed.

"You're going to be seven," he says. I frown. Why does he always avoid answering my questions during moments like this? "I suppose I should tell you…"

"Tell me what?" I ask, sitting up. He smiles.

"Your mother just left to run some errands, so don't mention anything to her." I nod, urging him to continue. He leans forward and whispers, "You know what I am, right?" I stare at him confusedly. "I am a dark lord. I possess black magic powers granted to me by Twinrova. In order to get the other two Triforce pieces, I need to kill the other two bearers." I gasp at this. Dark lord? Black magic? Kill? I knew he possessed black magic, but when he used all those in the same sentence, it made him sound…

I look up suddenly upon the realization that my father truly is evil.

"Nali, you seem…surprised." He says, smirking.

"Well, I am." I say. "I mean, I didn't know…well, don't you feel even the slightest remorse that you're going to kill two people?" he laughs at this.

"Nali, what's the significance of two measly lives compared to ours? We can have a much better life than being in this pitiable desert by sacrificing these two lives. And once you're ranked, you will train to be one of my highest Elites." I blink in surprise. So he just wants me to do his dirty work?

Come to think of it, isn't that technically what all Gerudos do for him?

"Nali, do you know what would make me the proudest father in the world?" he says. I look at him excitedly.

"What is it?" I ask excitedly. He smiles.

"You need to start training much harder, and you need to learn to kill." My smile turns into a frown.

"Kill?" I ask. "But I'm only six…"

"You'll be seven in five days, and then eight a year from then. You're almost ready to be ranked. You need to start thinking deeply about these things. Don't you want to make me proud?" I nod.

"Yes, Daddy, but…don't you feel guilty for saying things like this?" he laughs at this.

"You honestly have no idea about what I do, do you?" he asks. This sends chills down my spine.

"I suppose…I'd kill for you, Daddy…but not innocent lives. Only people who pose a threat to you." I say. I don't want to kill period, but I suppose if it was a life or death situation, I might kill just out of self-defense. He smiles.

"Well it's a start, I suppose." He says. "By the way, that was very clever thinking last night…Jasela found my rapier in the training grounds, just like you said it might be." I nod.

"See? Nobody took it." He laughs. Suddenly there's a knock at the door.

Who comes in this late at night?

"Go to bed, Nali. I'll see you tomorrow morning." He says, pulling the blankets over me.

"Goodnight." I say. He nods and shuts my door. I wait about a minute and then slowly tiptoe to the door and eavesdrop.

"Hello, Love." I hear my father say. It can't be my mom, can it? She doesn't knock…

"Where's Kali, Ganon?" the woman says.

"Don't worry. I sent her out to do some errands." He answers.

"And Nali?"

"She's asleep in her room." There's some footsteps and then silence. I quickly run over to my bed and hop in, quickly pulling the blankets over me incase he were to check on me. But he doesn't.

I spend the next fifteen minutes or so staring up at the ceiling and wondering who's here before I realize I'm thirsty. I crawl out of bed and quietly open my door to go get water from the kitchen, and also to greet whoever's here.

As I'm walking out of the kitchen and back to my room with my water, I stop as I hear noise coming from my parents' bedroom. I slowly make my way over to the room. The door is slightly open. I'm shocked by what I see.

There's an Elite, I'm not sure what her name is, in the bed…and my dad's on top of her. The blankets are covering them, but I know what they're doing.

"OH MY GODDESSES!" I shriek before realizing my mistake. The woman screams in surprise and my father looks over his shoulder and glares.

"NALI, GET TO YOUR ROOM!" he shouts. I drop my water and dart back into my room, slamming the door. I quickly hop back into bed and start crying. I'm shaking…I don't know whether it's because I'm scared or shocked or both.

I can hear the two mumbling in the family room. I think the woman's leaving because I hear the door open and close. A few seconds later, my father enters my room in his robe.

"Nali," he says sternly. I can't help but start crying.

"I was getting some water. I was thirsty…I didn't mean…"

"It's alright. I should have shut the door." He tells me. I sigh in relief. So he's not mad at me…but I can't help but say the next thing.

"How can you do this to Mom?" I whisper, my voice shaking. He glares and raises his voice.

"That's none of your concern! How do you know what…that is, anyway?" he asks. I blink. How do I know what sex is? Well it's in my home education lessons. I thought he knew that.

Gerudos are trained to know things like this young because we're considered an adult by twelve and are actually encouraged to have sex to reproduce for the culture…he should know that I already know this.

"That's right, you probably studied it." He says, answering his own question. He starts advancing towards me. "Look, if you say anything about this to your mom, I'll beat your little ass, do you understand me?" I gasp in surprise. He's never talked to me like this before.

I can't help but let a few more tears roll down my face.

"I won't say anything, Daddy. I promise." I whisper. He sighs and sits on the edge of my bed.

"I must apologize for snapping at you. I suppose it's not your fault you saw that." I can't help but ask him…

"Daddy, why…I mean, I know you and Mom fight a lot, but how come you did this to her? Don't you feel remorseful for doing such a thing?" he shakes his head.

"Your mother is a little…" he trails off. I suppose he's trying to clean up his language in his head. "Your mother and I aren't exactly in love anymore, Nali. She tries to continue being in love with me, but it's not something you can force. It has to be something you feel."

"From your heart?" I ask. He nods.

"Yes, exactly." I nod in understanding.

"So don't breathe a word to her, okay?" I sigh and nod. He pulls the blankets over me. "Goodnight, Nalissa." He says.

"Goodnight, Daddy." I say as he shuts my door. Goddesses, this is going to eat me up inside for a long time…

**A/N: If you remember reading from "Buried In The Desert Sands", Nali tells Katara that she sees Ganondorf coming home with different women constantly. **

**Disturbing? Yes…**

**And if Nalissa seems a little mature for her age, that's because she is! I figure all Gerudos would be mature for their age because they are forced to grow up fast. They are ranked at eight and are adults at twelve, and like Nalissa mentions, they're encouraged to reproduce quite young. Also, back in the time OoT is set, the majority of the kids seem pretty mature anyway.  
And Ganondorf is barely telling his soon-to-be seven year-old daughter that he's a killer and she needs to start learning how to kill as well! I'm interested in hearing the reader's thoughts on this. So remember to drop in and leave a review! =]**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from The Legend Of Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**A/N: Enjoy!! =]**

Chapter 4

Today is my birthday. I'm seven, and I have one year until I am ranked.

My mom threw a big party for me and invited every Gerudo in the fortress. All my closest friends are here, and even my favorite adults, Katara included, are here. Yet I still don't feel happy.

I wish my dad were here to enjoy this with me…

"What's wrong, kiddo?" says a familiar voice. I scoot over and make room for Katara, who made herself a plate piled with food. I poke at my food subconsciously with my fork as I watch all my friends playing birthday games that I'm supposed to participate in…I just don't feel like it.

"Hey, Kat." I say, sighing.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you enjoying your party with the rest of the girls?" she asks, pointing at my friends all laughing and having a good time. I sigh.

"I wish my dad were here, but he's never home…" I admit.

"You know he's the king, Nali. He has a lot of responsibilities." I nod.

"I know, but still…it's my birthday. He was supposed to be here." Katara nods and watches my friends play.

"Come on, Nali Sweetie! Come blow out your candles!" my mom yells excitedly, grabbing my plate and setting it down and lifting me up by my hands. She eagerly leads me over to my birthday cake. I sigh again.

I want to tell her about Daddy so bad but I promised I wouldn't say anything…

I shake the image of my father with that other woman out of my head and blow out my candles. Everybody claps and my mom excitedly cuts everybody a piece of cake. I'm personally not hungry for cake, but my friends are demanding that I take the first bite as birthday girl so they can enjoy their slices. After a couple bites, I sigh and throw my plate away and sneak off to my room to cry.

***

My dad returned about two days after my party. I stare absentmindedly at the gift he brought back…a new bow. It's really fancy.

I'm sitting on my bed cleaning the bow. Suddenly my father comes in.

"Nali," he says.

"Yes Daddy?" I ask, still cleaning the bow. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him smirking.

Oh goddesses, I know that look…what is he planning now?

"Remember when you said you wanted the opportunity to make me proud?" he asks, his smirk growing even bigger.

***

"Where are we going, Daddy?" I ask, having to almost run to keep up with his fast pace. He smirks.

"You'll see." He says, picking up his speed.

Ever since he came to my room, he's been leading me to a part of the fortress I haven't seen before. He hasn't said more than two words since then.

Finally we arrive in some room. It looks like a dungeon.

"What is this place?" I ask, amazed. My dad smirks and walks to the center of the room.

"It's the execution room." He says. Before I can respond, he takes out his long black sword and hands it to me.

"What do you want me to do with this?" I ask.

"You'll see." He says. A minute later, two Elites come in with some boy. He has white skin, light brown hair, and blue eyes. I've never seen someone with such light skin. He must be Hylian.

The two Elites throw him roughly onto the floor before my father and me. They bow and wait by the door. The boy looks up at us, and I gasp. His hair is matted with blood and his face is all bruised up. His clothes are in shreds and his body is bruised and bloodied in various places. He's been beaten badly. And the worst part is he looks no older than fourteen or so.

"Go ahead, Nali." My father tells me, looking bloodthirsty. "Stab him." I gape in surprise.

"What?!" I shriek.

"Do you want me to be proud of you, Nali, or not?" he asks, raising his eyebrow. I shake my head.

"No, Daddy! Not like this! Please!" I cry.

"Nali, you said you'd kill anyone who poses a threat to me. This boy does. He tried to break into my tower back in Hyrule. So do what you said you would do." I look back at the young boy.

"Please spare me, Your Majesty!" he begs. "I meant no harm! Honest!"

"You expect us to believe that?" he asks, smiling evilly.

"Have mercy on me, please young girl!" he begs, looking at me. I gulp.

"Do it, Nali." My father says, grinning psychotically. "Do this, and you'll make me the proudest father this world has ever known. I might even take you with me to my tower in Hyrule some time." I look at him. He never takes me to Hyrule! And he said he would be proud…

I take in a deep breath and raise the sword above my head. Just as I'm about to bring it down, the boy shouts and covers his eyes, shaking violently.

In that split second, I see myself…what if I kill him?

I picture the boy dead on the floor because of me, his blood everywhere. I see my father hugging me and telling me how proud he is. I picture the first time he'll take me to see Hyrule and the tower he's been residing in. I would be so happy.

But staring at this boy, how frightened he looks…

I throw the sword down and watch it clang against the stone floor.

"No, Daddy!" I shout, tears pouring down my face. My dad blinks and stares at me in confusion.

"Did you just tell me no?" he asks. I gulp.

I just realized that I've never told him no, ever, and I've never used that tone before.

"Daddy, it's not right." I say in a lower voice.

"Don't you want me to be proud of you, Nali? And what about the tower in Hyrule? You've been begging me to take you since you were a toddler." The offer is tempting, but I don't think it's worth it in the end.

"No, not like this. I want you to be proud of me for who I am. I shouldn't have to do this to make you proud. And the bribes will not make me do it either." I tell him. He wrinkles his eyebrows at me in confusion.

He quickly makes his way over to the sword on the floor and swings it swiftly, slitting the Hylian boy's throat. The boy falls lifelessly. I gasp as tears pour down my face. The two Elites pick the body up and leave with it.

My knees feel so weak that I fall to the floor crying.

"You need to get used to this, Nali. Because you are going to be doing this and following in my footsteps one day." He tells me.

"That…that was horrible." I whisper, traumatized by the scene.

"I will forgive you this once only because it was your first time, but next time you will do as I say, or else…" I shake my head.

"NO, I don't want to kill!" I shout. I've never yelled at my father before.

"YOU'RE WEAK JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!" my dad screams at me, wiping the blood off his sword with his cape. I stare at it, and then think about the day's events.

"YOU'RE SICK!" I screech. Before he can react, I get up and dart out of the room.

***

"_Do it, Nali!" my father tells me. "Or I will never be proud of you!" I look down at the Hylian kid._

"_Please have mercy on me, Miss!" he says. I shake my head and bring the sword down._

_The boy falls lifelessly, a pool of blood spilling from the gash in his neck that I created. My father laughs wickedly and claps his hands._

_  
"Oh, Nali! That was terrific! I am so proud of you! You're the best daughter in the world!" my dad tells me, hugging me and kissing my forhead for the first time in my life. "I'm going to take you to my tower in Hyrule with me tomorrow. You are going to make a fine Gerudo warrior one day, Sweet heart." _

"_Thanks, Daddy." I say, hugging back. I enjoy this feeling so much. _

_I don't feel any remorse for killing the kid. He deserved it anyway because he threatened my father. _

_Besides, if killing one measly little life has this type of impact on my relationship with my father then it's completely worth it._

"_I love you, Nalissa." He tells me. I gape in surprise. This is the first time he's ever told me that!_

"_I love you too Daddy!" I shout, tears pouring down my face. They're tears of happiness! _

"_Clean the blood off of your sword, Sweetie." He tells me. I nod and hold the bloody sword up._

_I catch my reflection in the blade. Staring back at me is my face but not my greenish/brown eyes…they're my father's golden eyes. I blink and when I stare at my reflection again, it isn't me staring back at all…it's my father staring back at me, grinning psychotically with that same bloodthirsty look in his eyes._

"AHHHH!" I shriek, waking up.

I quickly get up and dart to my mirror.

"Please don't be my father's reflection…" I whisper. But staring back is my own reflection, and my own greenish/brown eyes.

I breathe a sigh of relief and feel my heart, which is beating quickly. I take a seat at the foot of my bed and grip my head in my hand, trying to shut out the nightmare and the horrifying image of my father killing that Hylian boy.

The joy I felt in the dream was beautiful…it was a beautiful feeling, to hear those words from my father's mouth and to feel his loving, fatherly embrace. Oh, how I long for that to happen in real life…

…But not like this. I don't want to kill just to feel that same overwhelming joy I felt in the dream. I shouldn't have to do this just to feel that way.

I jump in surprise at the sound of my mom's screams of pain. She's begging him to stop hitting her…

I shake my head and cover my ears. There's nothing I can do…

After about a minute, I realize he's still hitting her…he's beating her.

I look in the mirror again at my reflection. I am not my father. I'm nothing like him, and I don't want to be.

Unthinkingly, I dart out into the living room.

My mom's on the floor and my dad's hitting her every place he can get his hands on. She's begging him to stop. She reminds me of that Hylian boy begging my father and me for mercy.

I unthinkingly dart over to him and wrap my arms around his neck. I know that I'm not strong enough to pull him off of her, but I've got to do something. I'm tired of sitting around and listening to him hurt her all the time.

"Daddy, no!" I shout, pulling. "Stop hitting her, NOW!" I scream.

Before I even understand what's happening, I'm sent crashing to the floor. I blink in surprise at the stinging on my left cheek.

My father just slapped me.

He's never laid his hands on me before.

He stopped hitting Mom, though. He's standing now, and he's looking at me angrily.

"No more!" I shout from my position on the floor. He darts forward and I try to crawl away, but he grabs me by the hair roughly and jerks me to a standing position.

"You little brat…" he hisses, bringing his hand back to slap me again.

"GANON, NO!" my mom shrieks, grabbing his hand. "Put her down!" she pleads. "Please!" My dad grunts and pushes me away. I fall against the couch.

"I HATE YOU, GANONDORF!" I cry, getting up and darting out of the room. I have no idea where I'm going, but it's definitely far away from here.

**A/N: I'm going to come out and say this right now that I do NOT support physical abuse, whether it be to a spouse or a child, and the purpose of me writing this is simply to show how evil and cruel Ganondorf is.**

**Remember to drop in and leave a review! =]**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from The Legend Of Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**A/N: Enjoy!! =]**

Chapter 5

I honestly have no idea where I'm headed.

There's very few Gerudos out since it's the middle of the night, but the ones on patrol are staring at me funny.

I've always been instructed, and all young Gerudo girls are, never to leave the fortress. But I do so anyway in an attempt to hide from the psychotic, crazed king.

I'm amazed at what I see. Off in the distance, I can see green prickly stuff covering the ground. This must be what grass looks like! I've never seen grass before!

The urge to see more of Hyrule builds up inside of me and soon I'm sprinting faster than ever. I'm going so fast I feel like I'm flying…

That also confuses me! I can feel the wind blowing in my face, but it's not a harsh, stinging wind like in the desert. It's more of a comforting wind, urging me to run faster.

This is the fastest I've ever run. I feel as if this strange, gentle wind is helping carry me away from the wretched desert.

About five minutes later, I'm out of breath and need to rest. I look back. The desert is nowhere in sight.

"Grass!" I say to myself. I laugh and pluck the blades happily. Off to the side I can see some strangle looking plants with petals of different colors.

"Flowers!" I say, plucking a purple one and smelling it. I put it in my hair. I want to keep the beautiful thing.

Convinced that my father won't find me, I allow myself to relax and lay in the grass. I love the feeling of the grass. It's much better than the hot desert sand, for certain.

I close my eyes in an attempt to fall asleep…

But suddenly some noise disrupts my sleep. I open my eyes. About ten feet away are three skeleton-like creatures. And they're coming right at me!

I immediately stand up and attempt to draw my scimitars…but then I realize that I left them back at home.

"Ah!" I screech as the one closest to me swipes at me with its hand. I stare at my stinging arm, which is now bleeding.

"Leave me alone!" I shout again as another one takes a swipe at me.

As I'm running from them, another one pops out of the ground in front of me!

I screech and try to run away, but they've all got me cornered. They each begin taking swipes at me from all directions. I fall to the floor and curl up, my main instinct being to cover my face with my arms.

Next thing I know, the skeletal creatures are howling in pain and they've stopped hitting me. When I open my eyes, I'm in the arms of this burly Hylian man, and he's carrying me somewhere. I start squirming.

"Put me down this instant!" I demand. The man looks down at me and raises his eyebrow.

"Is this the thanks I get for saving your life, young Gerudo child?" he asks. I frown. He's the one who destroyed the skeleton creatures?

"Where are you taking me?" I ask.

"To Kakariko. I live there. I heard screams when I was collecting water from Zora's River and I saw you off in the distance and decided that you needed help." He tells me. I frown.

"Kakariko? Zora's River? What are these places?" I ask. The man frowns.

"I suppose Gerudos from the desert don't get out much, do they?" he asks.

"Well, I can walk, you know!" I snap, struggling again. Goddesses this man's strong. At least he's not Ganondorf carrying me back to the desert. That would be a worse situation. "Please set me down! You're hurting my Gerudo pride!" the man laughs at this.

"Gerudo pride? As you wish, little lady." He says, setting me down gently. I begin to walk but I soon fall over. The man catches me.

"I'm fine!" I shout. I try to walk again but I get the same results. I finally look down at my right leg. It's all bloodied from the skeletons.

"Stalchilds are nasty creatures. They pop out of the grounds at night and they don't fight fair. It's dangerous traveling at night without any weapons in stock. They'll all corner a person and beat them to death." I sigh and give in as the man picks me up and continues to carry me. "What were you doing out all alone, anyway? Don't Gerudos travel in groups?" I nod.

"Yes, usually. But I ran away, and I don't want to go back." The man frowns at this.

"Why?" he asks.

"I dislike our king." He nods.

"I heard about King Ganondorf. He caused all of Hyrule Castle Town's population to move into Kakariko. He sounds like a wicked man." I didn't know my father was so notorious amongst Hylians. That really makes me feel awful.

Once we arrive in Kakariko, the man sets me down to unlock the door to his house. Once we're inside, he sets me in a chair and inspects my wounds.

"I'm a doctor." He informs me. I nod and let him tend to my injuries. When he finishes, he asks me where I'm headed.

"I don't know." I admit.

"There's a house a couple doors down that a rich family used to live in. They apparently became cursed because of their greed and no one's seen them ever since. You should check it out."

He cooked me up a small meal, and when I finished eating, I thanked the man and left to check out the said house.

When I enter, I get this eerie feeling that I'm being watched. Suddenly a skeletal-looking spider drops from the ceiling and hisses at me.

"GET OUT!" it hisses. "FILTHY GERUDOS ARE NOT WELCOME IN THIS VILLAGE!" I screech and dart out the door, completely forgetting that my leg still hurts.

I have no idea where I'm going, but I go up a flight of stairs, and soon I'm on some sort of mountain trail.

"So this is what a mountain looks like." I whisper, amazed at my surroundings. There's a huge smoke ring surrounding the top of the mountain. I press forward.

Once I get to this little cave, I scream in surprise as a rock comes to life!

"What are you?!" I scream. The rock smiles at me.

"I'm a Goron. What are you? You're not a Hylian! You must be a Gerudo! You have round ears and tan skin!" the Goron seems really friendly. I take a deep breath and relax my tense shoulders.

"So, do all Gorons resemble huge rocks?" I ask. The Goron nods.

"Oh yes. We curl up like rocks when we sleep so if something dangerous were to appear, it would mistaken us for a rock." I take in the information.

"Interesting." I say. "Camouflage?"

"Exactly!" the Goron shouts. I smile at it and read the nearby sign.

"Dodongo's Cavern." I read aloud. The Goron nods.

"A few years ago, a boy in green named Link came and cleared the cavern of Dodongos, but now there are still a few in there and I think they might be breeding!"

"What exactly is a Dodongo?" I ask. I thought it might be a person at first since the sign said "Dodongo's Cavern"…but the Goron is using it in a context that makes it sound like an animal.

"They're these dinosaur-like, fire-breathing creatures. The cavern is the source us Gorons get our rocks from to eat, but they overpopulated the cavern five years ago and were eating all of our rocks. When that kid Link cleared out the cavern, more migrated here later on and now there's a lot more in there."

"Are they going to be a problem?"

"Maybe." The Goron says. I smile at the opportunity to help.

"I can help get rid of them for you guys! I just need a weapon…"

"If you follow the trail, you'll find Goron City. There's a sword-maker there. Maybe you'll be able to purchase a sword." The Goron tells me. I smile.

"Thanks." I say. I know that sometimes rupees are found in rocks, so I begin picking up rocks and chucking them against the walls. "Nice speaking with you!" I shout, waving at the Goron and taking off.

***

I'm in the Dodongo's Cavern. I had raised quite a few rupees from the rocks (not to mention I found a secret hole somewhere up the cliff that had treasure in it with rupees), and purchased a big sword called the "Giant's Knife". I'm hoping to destroy the Dodongo problem then befriend the Gorons. Maybe they'll let me live with them when they see that I helped them.

When I see a Dodongo, I nearly drop my sword in surprise. It's huge! It looks at me then with a mighty roar, breathes out fire. I dive out of the way and slice at its face. I'm not sure how to beat it.

The sword clangs against its hard skin, and then breaks off!

I grind my teeth in frustration. The Goron told me that the sword breaks easily, but I didn't know he meant this easily! The Dodongo runs forward and head butts me in the stomach, sending me flying into the wall. The Dodongo towers over me then claws at my already-wounded leg. I cry out in pain as the gash reopens. The Dodongo breathes in oxygen to prepare to breathe fire on me. I cover my eyes and wait for the painful impact…

Suddenly the Dodongo roars in pain! I open my eyes and I'm shocked by what I see. My dad is sending energy balls at the Dodongo. The Dodongo roars angrily and attempts to barbecue my dad. My dad rolls out of the way then sends another energy ball at the beast. The beast roars in agony then falls lifelessly to the floor, exploding soon after. My dad's breathing heavily, and he looks angry. A few seconds later, three Elites run in.

"Your Majesty!" one shouts. My dad looks over at me and looks at my bleeding leg. I'm so terrified that I black out.

***

When I wake up, I'm in my dad's arms. He's carrying me back to the desert!

"No!" I squeal, squirming. I suddenly scream in pain because of the wound in my leg and torso. My dad looks down at me, raises his eyebrow, then bites his tongue and says nothing.

A minute later, he's setting me down on a hospital bed. One of the Elites that had been traveling with him runs off to get a doctor.

"Janina," my father says to one of the Elites. "Remind me to curse the Gorons for letting her enter that dreadful place, and also to banish those annoying Stalchilds that appear in the night." Janina nods.

"Yes, Sire." She says obediently. I push myself up to a sitting position.

"NO!" I scream, groaning at the pain in my stomach from the Dodongo head butting me. My dad gently pushes me back down to a laying down position. "The Gorons didn't do anything wrong!" my father shakes his head at me.

"They gave you a cheap sword to defend yourself with and asked you to destroy their Dodongo problem."

"No, you don't understand…"

"NALI!" a voice shouts. My mom runs in and hugs me.

"Thank the goddesses! Why would you run away not knowing where you're going? Don't ever do that again!" she shouts.

"I'm fine, Mom." I tell her. She looks at my bloody leg and shakes her head.

"You need stitches! What happened?"

"Nali decided to go to the Dodongo's Cavern on Death Mountain and try to solve the Gorons' Dodongo problem…and they gave her a cheap sword to defend herself with." My father says.

"What?" my mom shrieks. "How dare they!"

"That's what I said." He replies. "I'm going to do something awful to the entire race."

"You're a bad man…" I whisper. He turns to glare at me.

"WHAT?"

"No, Ganon. You're daughter's hurt. Now's not the time to argue."

"You need to show me some respect!" he shouts at me.

"You need to show my mother some respect." I say. He glares and turns to the two Elites standing in the doorway.

"Get out of here, Janina and Alani!" he shouts. The two bow and exit as fast as possible. He slams the door, locks it, and turns to me. "What did you say??"

"You need to show my mother some respect." I repeat, pushing myself into a sitting position, despite the pain I'm in. My father walks forward, but my mom stands in front of him and puts her hands on his chest.

"Ganon, she's hurt! Stop it!"

"I wasn't going to hit her." He says, looking at me funny. "I'm just surprised, is all, that she grew a finally backbone. Good. She'll need that to kill."

"YOU'RE CRAZY IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO KILL PEOPLE FOR YOU!" I shout, groaning in pain because of my stomach.

"Ganon, she's seven. She doesn't need to kill." My mom says calmly. I stare in surprise.

"So you knew? You knew what he is?" I ask.

"Nali, now's not the time for this," she tells me.

"You know what he is but you stay with him?" suddenly there's a knock on the door.

"Is it the doctor?" my father calls.

"Yes, Sire!" a muffled voice shouts from behind the door. My father unlocks it and the doctor enters. "Let's take a look at your leg, young one." She says, inspecting my wound. "Ooh, you're going to need stitches."

"I told her that!" my mom shouts.

"Does anything else hurt, child?" the doctor asks me.

"My stomach area and my arm, but as you can see, my arm is already bandaged. It was treated earlier tonight by a doctor in Kakariko." Everyone exchanged confused glances at this.

"How did you get your arm wound?" the doctor asks.

"Stalchilds." I reply. My mom sighs and shakes her head.

"Nali, why would you go out like that with no weapons?" she says.

"You know why I went out." I reply, shooting her a glare. I wince as the doctor feels around my stomach area.

"Broken ribs." She mumbles. My mom looks at me with high concern, and my father's expression is unreadable.

"May I ask you two to please step out while I tend to her wounds?" the doctor asks. My mom hops up immediately and exits. My father lingers in the room for a minute, then exhales deeply and exits.

***

I was so embarrassed when we walked out of the medical ward. It was early in the morning, and all the Gerudos – even some of my friends – were staring at my bandaged body. I mean I have bandages everywhere! My arms, my leg, and around my whole stomach! This isn't a suitable look for a Gerudo warrior!

So now I'm in my room staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly the door swings open. It's my mom.

"Nali," she says, taking a seat on the foot of my bed.

"What?" I mumble.

"About your dad…"

"He's a wicked man, and yet you stay with him and you cower before him every time he so much as looks in your direction. What's more about it?" my mom sighs.

"Your dad loves you very much…and me. The only times he's ever hit me is when I deserved it." I look up at this.

"Mom, you never deserve it…actually, no woman deserves to get hit! This is why I don't want to ever get married!" I shout angrily. "Is this what he tells you when he wants to make up? That you deserve to get beat? How is that love?" my mom stares in surprise.

"Nali!" she shouts disapprovingly.

"I could understand if he snapped just once and then after apologized profusely and never did it again, but he does it all the time, and I have never once heard him apologize to you."

"Kali," says my father's voice from the hallway. I didn't realize he'd been eavesdropping. To prove my point about cowering before him, my mom clams up immediately at the sound of his voice.

"Yes, Ganon?" she asks.

"Why don't you get out so I can talk to her?" my mom looks at him then back at me then nods.

"Yes, Ganon." She says obediently. I shake my head in disgust. My father enters and shuts the door.

"Nali," he says. "I'm so sorry I hit you last night. I didn't mean…"

"I don't care about myself. You need to apologize to my mother." I tell him.

"I already did, and I do apologize to her after we argue. You just don't hear it." He informs me.

"It's not right." I say. "The whole point of the Gerudo race is that the majority of us are women and we're independent and don't let anybody mess with us. I don't understand why every time you walk by they have to cower before you. Don't you respect these women? They risk their lives for you." My dad sighs and takes a seat on the edge of my bed.

"Nali, I don't want you to kill for the fun of it." He says.

"Where did that come from?" I ask, referring to the randomness of his statement.

"Because I know it's disturbing you!" he snaps. "I won't be here one day, and you need to learn to defend yourself!"

"Self defense is different than just killing some random Hylian kid!" I shout.

"He wasn't some random Hylian kid, he broke into my tower!"

"But still…" I say, trailing off. My dad sighs then mumbles under his breath.

"Nali," he says. "As ruler, there are certain things that need to be done to certain people because of me." He explains. "Don't you want to be an Elite one day?"

"Yes, Daddy! It's my dream!" I say.

"You know what they do to people on the raids, right?" I gulp. I never thought about that. "You're going to kill eventually as a Gerudo. It's in your blood and culture."

"Maybe I don't want to be a Gerudo." I say.

"That's a slap in the face to the whole fortress." He says. "Nali, a second ago, you were talking about what makes our race so unique and great. Part of the reason I'm trying to get the Triforce is because I want our race to have a better life." I sigh.

"You shouldn't have tried to force me to kill that kid, though."

"You're absolutely right. I shouldn't have. I thought I was doing what was best for you, but now I can see that it disturbed you and I probably should not have forced it on you so young." He looks at me suddenly. "Say, Nali. It took courage to go to Death Mountain and attempt to fight the Dodongos." He tells me. "Even if you sure could use some better judgment regarding quality swords." He chuckles at this.

"But I almost got killed." He nods.

"That's why you need more training." He tells me. "You know what, if you promise to behave for the next week, I might take you to my tower with me." I look at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yep." He says. "The way you charged into that cavern without a second thought made me really proud…" his eyes widen with the realization that he told me he was proud. Tears fill my eyes.

"Really?" I whisper. He smiles and nods and holds his arms out.

What's he doing?

Does he want a…hug?

I laugh happily and throw my arms around him, letting tears pour down my face.

Tears of happiness…

Just like in my dream.

But I didn't have to kill anybody for them!

"I love you, Nalissa." He tells me, kissing my forehead.

"I love you too, Daddy." I whisper, not being able to believe my ears.

"Get some sleep. I know it's morning, but the goddesses know just how little of it you got in that goddess-forsaken medical ward." I laugh at this and close my eyes as my father exits the room.

**A/N: Hmm, does anybody buy Ganondorf's sudden change in behavior? What do you think he is planning?**

**Remember to drop in and leave a review! =]**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from The Legend Of Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**A/N: Enjoy!! =]**

Chapter 6

"No way! He's actually going to take you to his tower in Hyrule?" my friend Belina gapes at me. I smile and nod proudly as I aim my arrow at the giant target in the archery range. I have two best friends, Belina and Andalee, and we always attend our practices together. We all have the same mentor, Miss Melani, along with a few other girls. In each class, each girl has her own clique, and mine consists of Belina, Andalee, and me. We rarely talk to the other girls.

I groan in annoyance as my arrow barely misses the bull's eye.

"Nice try, Princess Nali!" Miss Melani encourages me. I frown at her. I don't like when people call me a princess. I understand my father is the king and all, but I don't think I'm qualified to be considered a "princess"…yes, my family is the richest in the whole desert, but considering how poor the desert is, that's not much to brag about. It also makes me feel weird to be referred to as a princess in front of the other girls, because then they stare and whisper. In my eyes, I'm a regular Gerudo just like them. I just happened to be born to the king.

"Here, Andalee." I tell my other friend, handing her the bow. For archery lessons, we all stand in a line and shoot arrows. Then we go to the back of the line and repeat multiple times. When we're eight and ranked, we're allowed to do it on horseback. We start practicing like this, however, at six.

Andalee misses the target completely, which causes a girl I dislike named Nadhiyah to laugh. Andalee frowns.

"Nice try, Andalee. You're just holding the bow wrong. Let me show you how to hold it properly." Says Miss Melani. She demonstrates the proper way to hold the bow then has Andalee try again. This time, the arrow hits the target (although quite far from the bull's-eye), but Andalee cries out in pain. The arrow had grazed her hand when she let it fly.

This sends Nadhiyah into a fit of laughter. I turn to glare in her direction.

"Shut up, Nadhiyah!" Belina shouts in Andalee's defense.

"Yeah, seriously! You have no right to laugh at her! She's trying her hardest!" I shout. Nadhiyah smirks.

"She will never be an Elite at the rate she's going!" Nadhiyah laughs. I glare. Oh, how I'd love to punch that girl a few times.

"Nadhiyah, there's no need to be so mean. Come try it yourself." Miss Melani says. Nadhiyah shrugs and prances over. She yanks the bow roughly out of Andalee's hands, aims, and shoots a perfect bulls-eye. Everyone, including me, gasps. Even Miss Melani is impressed.

"Excellent job, Nadhiyah!" she shouts, causing the whole class (except for my friends and I, obviously), to applaud. I just roll my eyes in disgust. This is really going to make that girl get a big head…and her head's already big enough!

She turns to Andalee and smirks.

"And _that _is how you shoot." She says, purposefully flicking her long red ponytail in Andalee's face and walking away. Andalee glares and before anyone realizes what's happening, she leaps at Nadhiyah, grabs her ponytail, yanks her to the floor, and begins punching her. We all gasp.

"Andalee, no!" I shout, running over to pull her off. Andalee shoves me away and continues punching. Nadhiyah attempts to block her face and begins crying. "Andalee! You're going to get punished!" I warn her, trying to yank her off. Miss Melani pulls Andalee off and inspects the damage. Nadhiyah has a bloody lip and marks on her face and she's crying in pain. I look over at Andalee, amazed. Nadhiyah has been giving my trio trouble since we first got put in training classes, but Andalee has always been so shy. No one would have ever expected her to stick up for herself like this. I guess she'd been pushed to her limits.

"Princess Nali, take Andalee to the medical ward to have her hand looked at. Tell them what happened so they know to arrange a punishment as soon as possible." Miss Melani says. I stare in surprise at Andalee's hand. After everything that's happened, I completely forgot that the arrow she shot had grazed her hand. It's bleeding quite a bit, but it doesn't look too deep…it's not nearly as deep as the gash I had in my leg from the Dodongo two weeks ago. Andalee glares.

"What? Punishment? Nadhiyah should get punished, too! She's been messing with me since day one and no one's even bothered to do anything about it!" she shrieks.

She has a point.

Miss Melani's never done anything to stop the teasing Nadhiyah gives Andalee, or anyone else for that matter. Nadhiyah's said at least one bad thing to everyone in the class except for twin sister, Nadhirrah. They're the best of friends, but Nadhirrah is much nicer than Nadhiyah.

"She has never laid her hands on you, and I said at the start of this class one year ago that any violence is unacceptable! Go now!" Miss Melani shouts at us. Andalee groans. I grab her gently and lead her to the medical ward.

***

"I hate Nadhiyah! Why does she always get away with everything? She could get away with murder in that class!" Andalee shouts on the way to the medical ward. I sigh and nod.

"It's true…I heard a rumor that Nadhirrah and Nadhiyah are Miss Melani's sister's daughters, so that would make her their aunt, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. It could be. She seems really lenient with them as far as enforcing rules and such." I say. Andalee sighs.

"I shouldn't have attacked her," she says. "I don't want to get punished…Nali, what do they do for a punishment like this? They don't…" Andalee gulps. "They don't whip you, do they?" I shrug.

"I honestly have no idea. I've never been in trouble in class before."

"Well what if I told them…" Andalee gasps and clams up, bowing suddenly. "Your majesty." She greets. I look over and see my dad surrounded by four Elites. He smiles.

"Hello Andalee, Nali…" he frowns. "What are you two doing out of class?"

"Andalee grazed her hand in archery lessons." I say, holding up her hand for him. "Miss Melani asked me to escort her to the medical ward."

"I see," he says. He stares at her hand. "Why are your knuckles all bruised?"

"I got in a fight," she admits, lowering her eyes.

"Why?"

"This stupid girl named Nadhiyah has been treating her badly since day one and Miss Melani's never done anything about it! She just got fed up today and attacked her!" I say, taking Andalee's defense. "This girl has been trouble since the start of the class. She's been rude to every girl in the class, myself included." My father raises his eyebrow at this.

"Really?" he asks. Andalee and I nod simultaneously.

"Your majesty, may I speak?" says an Elite.

"Sure, Pinar." My father says. Pinar nods and turns her attention to Andalee and me. I nearly gasp in surprise upon the realization that Pinar is the woman who I caught my father in bed with a few weeks ago.

"I believe that Nadhirrah and Nadhiyah are the nieces of Miss Melani, which would explain why she doesn't do anything about Nadhiyah being rude to others." My father smiles at this.

"Ah, so she is biased…" he says.

"I heard that, too. And that's what I thought, because she demands that Andalee gets disciplined for her actions, but I think that Nadhiyah should be punished too because she's been so rude to everyone." I say.

"She's rude to you too, you say, Nali?" my father asks me with a raised eyebrow. I nod. I wonder what he's planning.

"Yes." I say. "Especially me! She whispers and makes subtle comments every once in awhile, and ever since I became friends with Belina and Andalee, she started picking on them, too!" my father nods.

"Sounds like jealousy because of the fact you're the princess…and now she's taking it out on your friends too." He says. I cringe at the word 'princess'. "Pinar, will you escort Andalee here to the medical ward? And Janina, remind me that I need to have a little word with Melani…" he says. Pinar nods.

"Yes Sire." She says, leading Andalee away.

"So Daddy, you're going to speak with Miss Melani?" I ask.

"Yes, I'm going to tell her to pardon Andalee's punishment because I know she's your friend and I think that I should discuss with her the fact that she needs to be fair with all her students if she wants to keep her job as a mentor. Besides, I will not tolerate any dumb kid being rude to my little girl and her friends and getting away with it." He says, patting my head. All the Elites smile in approval. I wonder if he really means that or if he's just saying that to look like a 'family guy' in front of the Elites. Either way, I think it's really cool that he's doing Andalee this favor because she's my friend, and I'm also glad he's finally going to tell Miss Melani to treat Nadhiyah like the rest of us.

"Thank you, Daddy." I say. He nods and waves.

"Get back to class, Nali." He says, leaving with his three Elites.

***

"You can come with me to my tower tomorrow." I shriek in excitement.

"Tomorrow?!" I shout. He nods.

He has been coming to my room every night to talk to me and tuck me in. I love it! It's like he's finally starting to get what a loving father does for his daughter.

"I'm so excited! Can I bring Comet?" I ask, referring to my little white pony. Daddy bought me Comet as a gift for me when he travelled to a country adjacent to Hyrule six months ago. He runs really fast and he is white so he reminded me of a comet. So that's what I ended up calling him. Daddy nods.

"Yes, we are travelling on horseback. Besides, that pony has been cooped up in the fortress for quite a while now. It's about time he gets to stretch his legs." I shriek excitedly and Daddy smiles and tucks me in.

"Thank you!" I squeal. Daddy kisses my forehead.

"Goodnight, Nalissa." He says, blowing my candle out.

"Goodnight, Daddy!" I shout excitedly. Daddy smiles and shakes his head.

"You'd best be sure to get some sleep! We're waking up at dawn and I don't want you all sleepy for the trip just because you were too excited to rest!" he says, laughing.

"Whether I get any rest or not, I'll be excited to get up." I assure him. He laughs and closes the door.

Okay, maybe he's right.

I'm too excited to sleep! So I stare up at my ceiling for a while, imagining what the trip will be like.

"Hello, Ganon." Says a voice that clearly isn't my mom's. I frown.

"Melani." My father greets someone. I gasp. Miss Melani's here?

I quietly tiptoe to my door and listen.

"I need to speak with you about certain matters, and then we can go make some love." He says. I gasp.

I didn't realize he's been cheating on Mom with someone else other than Pinar! This is horrible…I thought he was changing.

Well he did say he and Mom aren't in love anymore. I suppose just because he's still disrespecting my mom doesn't mean he's still disrespecting me, which he's obviously not. At least he hasn't hit my mom in a while…

"I understand that Nadhiyah is your niece, but I was told by my daughter and her friend Andalee that you favor Nadhiyah and don't discipline her when she's rude to the other girls in the class."

"Ganon, Andalee attacked my niece. Of course I'm going to be angry…" she says.

"Okay, and it has been brought to my attention that Nadhiyah has been making rude comments to my daughter and her friends, which of course makes _me_ angry. So I suggest that if you'd like to keep your job as a mentor, you start treating each of your students fairly. Now please pardon Andalee's punishment and from now on, when that niece of yours makes a comment to anyone, especially my daughter, you are to take proper disciplinary actions. I'd better not hear of something like this again, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Ganon." Miss Melani says.

"Good. Now come with me to the bedroom, my love." He says. I quickly run and hop back into my bed. I hear the two go into the bedroom and shut the door. This time I'm smart enough not to exit my room.

I have mixed emotions. I think it's really cool that my dad stuck up for Andalee and all, but I don't approve of him cheating on Mom.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it…it's his decision, and like he said, they're not in love anymore. Maybe they could be breaking up and they just haven't told me yet. I don't understand why he'd stay married to someone and cheat with two other women on her. Why'd he even bother getting married in the first place?

I close my eyes and slowly drift off into sleep.

***

"This is it?" I ask. My dad, his Elites, and I all left our horses tied to a tree outside the castle walls. The drawbridge was all broken, but I didn't question about it. I also saw in the distance that Death Mountain's smoke ring had turned into a ring of fire, but I didn't question that, either.

Once we got to the castle walls, Daddy had said we should teleport to the tower, because it's impossible to get to on foot because of certain barriers that he didn't tell me about.

The teleportation spell had made me a little dizzy, but I dismissed the feeling as I stared at the interior of the tower.

"Yes. Do you like it?" Daddy asks me. I stare at the room. It has a really dark feeling to it, but other than that, it looks suitable for a king, which I guess in this case makes sense.

"Yeah, I do like it!" I tell him. I immediately dart over to a large organ in the center of the room. "Look at this, Daddy! A giant organ!" I shout, brushing my fingers along the keys. I wince at how loud the music is. Daddy runs over and slaps my hand away.

"Don't touch it!" he snaps, causing me to back away in shock. He sighs. "Sorry, it's just really expensive."

"I didn't even know you knew how to play! You like music, Daddy?" I ask. He nods.

"Every once in a while when I'm stressed, I like to sit down and play. It makes me calm."

"Won't you teach me how to play, Daddy?" I ask.

"Maybe when you're older. Instruments – especially expensive ones such as this one – need to be treated respectfully. I don't think a seven year-old and an expensive organ are a good mix. Maybe when you're ten I'll consider it."

"Okay, Daddy." I say, sighing.

"Elites," he calls. They immediately straighten up. There are five of them, Pinar included. "I would like to be alone with my daughter for a while. Can you ladies exit?" the five nod and exit. "Okay, Nali. You don't fool me. What's wrong?" I sigh. I hate how he can read me as easily as a book.

"I heard you and Miss Melani last night." I say. My dad looks at me in surprise. "I'm happy you stuck up for Andalee and all, but I just wish you'd stop cheating on Mom. I know you said you two aren't in love anymore, but…DADDY, WATCH OUT!" I shriek upon seeing a Hylian man lunge at my father with a katana. He'd been hiding behind the large organ!

"AGGH!" my father screams in anger. He falls to the floor clutching his now-bleeding arm.

"Ganondorf Dragmire," the man says. "You raided Hyrule six years ago, took over, chased the princess into hiding, and destroyed countless lives! I shall now take your life since you ruined mine by killing my family!" he takes his katana and charges at my wounded dad.

I quickly draw my scimitars and lunge for the man. I protectively step in front of my dad and hold my swords up in a criss-cross to block the man's blow. He comes down with enough force to make my body tingle but not enough to make me break my protective stance.

"Get out of my way, little girl!" he hisses. "Or I will be forced to kill you as well."

"Get away from my father or you will be a dead man within the next few minutes." I threaten. I can't see my father's expression, but I can imagine it as surprised. The man throws his head back and laughs.

"You think you scare me? You're a little girl. There's no way you know how to fight."

"You clearly have never met a Gerudo warrior before." I say, smirking. After this, we become engaged in a sword-fight.

We circle each other for what seems like an eternity. As I focus on the man's eyes, I try to picture the fight as another practice, not a fight for my life. My plan is to keep everything I've ever learned in mind and not try to worry about the stakes.

The man lunges and I sidestep out of the way. I take the chance to swipe at his back. His back arches in pain. His cloth is ripped and I left a good, long, diagonal gash across his back.

I realize now that the man isn't fighting with his head…he is just fighting out of rage, which is a mistake that will cost the man dearly.

The man turns and lunges again. This time I back flip out of the way. I take a jab at the man's leg, causing him to drop his katana and fall to the floor clutching it in pain. I walk forward and kick his sword out of his reach.

"Do it, Nali!" my father says weakly, probably losing blood by the second.

"Please have mercy on me, Miss!" the man pleads.

"_Do it, Nali!" my father tells me. "Or I will never be proud of you!" I look down at the Hylian kid._

"_Please have mercy on me, Miss!" he says. I shake my head and bring the sword down._

_The boy falls lifelessly, a pool of blood spilling from the gash in his neck that I created. My father laughs wickedly and claps his hands._

 _"Oh, Nali! That was terrific! I am so proud of you! You're the best daughter in the world!" my dad tells me, hugging me and kissing my forehead for the first time in my life. "I'm going to take you to my tower in Hyrule with me tomorrow. You are going to make a fine Gerudo warrior one day, Sweet heart."_

"_Thanks, Daddy." I say, hugging back. I enjoy this feeling so much._

_I don't feel any remorse for killing the kid. He deserved it anyway because he threatened my father._

_Besides, if killing one measly little life has this type of impact on my relationship with my father then it's completely worth it._

"_I love you, Nalissa." He tells me. I gape in surprise. This is the first time he's ever told me that!_

"_I love you too Daddy!" I shout, tears pouring down my face. They're tears of happiness!_

"_Clean the blood off of your sword, Sweetie." He tells me. I nod and hold the bloody sword up._

_I catch my reflection in the blade. Staring back at me is my face but not my greenish/brown eyes…they're my father's golden eyes. I blink and when I stare at my reflection again, it isn't me staring back at all…it's my father staring back at me, grinning psychotically with that same bloodthirsty look in his eyes._

I stop in surprise at the memory of my nightmare. I can't do it.

But wait…this guy is threatening my dad. And if I let him go, he'll probably kill both of us anyway. This is just self-defense.

I crouch into the position of the infamous Gerudo spin-attack, feeling my adrenaline rush. I've never tried this attack out of my training classes, but I'm sure my inner Gerudo will allow me to do it well. Besides, I've never had a real sword-fight outside of class before either, but I'm seemingly doing pretty well so far.

"_Never_ mess with the Dragmire's." I tell the man, letting myself perform the spin-attack.

The man falls limply to the floor – dead. I'm breathing heavily, staring at the gash I created in the man's throat. Remembering my nightmare, I stare at my reflection in the bloody scimitar. Thankfully, my own hazel eyes stare back.

"Nali…wow." My father says, stunned. I drop my scimitars and run over to him.

"Daddy, your arm…" I whisper, hugging him. I tear my sleeve off and wrap it around the wound.

Just in time, the Elites run back in.

"Sire!" they shout, helping him up.

"Look at that…Nali defended me." He brags, pointing at the body of the Hylian man.

"Excellent job, Princess!" Pinar shouts. "You'll make a great Elite one day!"

"I was just defending my dad." I say.

"Sire, are you able to teleport with that wound?" another Elite asks.

"Well I kind of have to, don't I?!" he snaps. "There's no way we'll be able to walk all the way to the entrance and then ride to the desert on horseback. I'll bleed to death!" the Elite looks down, probably ashamed by the stupidity of her question. I pick up and sheath my scimitars. "Remind me…I want to put the tower over a pool of lava and create a magical barrier around the entrance of the tower."

"That's a good idea, Daddy. That way nobody will be able to break in anymore." I say. Daddy nods and brushes my bangs out of my eyes with his good hand.

"Nali, I'm proud of you. Thank you for defending me. That man took me off guard and might have killed me if it weren't for you." He says. I smile and nod.

"You're welcome. Daddy, can we please go back to the fortress now? Thank you for bringing me, despite everything that happened." Daddy nods and teleports us back.

**A/N: Okay, so a few things:**

**Ganondorf is getting Andalee out of trouble at school to get closer to Nalissa because he knows she's her friend. Secondly, this (according to me) is why he puts that barrier that Link needs to break over the tower and also why the tower is over a pool of lava…so people can't break in anymore. And the reason he says there's barriers that they can't get to on foot is because he doesn't want Nali to see the ReDeads and destroyed houses around Castle Town (which if you remember she saw in "Buried In The Desert Sands") and doesn't want her to become disturbed and see all the skeletons outside of the tower.**

**And I got the names Andalee, Melani, Nadhiyah, Nadhirrah, and Pinar from this website: http:// www. bdancer . com / med-guide /names/ fnames. html…it has Middle Eastern names. I thought Middle Eastern names would be pretty on Gerudos since they're technically like some type of Middle Eastern themselves. The name Belina I just made up.**

**Remember to drop in and leave a review! =] **

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	7. Author's Note

**Author's Note: Hey guys. First of all, I wanted to apologize to anyone who's been following this story and hasn't gotten that update notification they've been waiting for in a long time. I just wanted to say that I think I am gonna put this story on what could possibly be a temporary hiatus…not because I don't enjoy writing it; Nalissa is possibly one of my favorite OC's of mine, but it's just that…well…I'm not sure what direction this story is going. When I finished Buried in the Desert Sands, I still wanted to write more because that story got so much more attention than I ever thought it possibly would, and reviewers were interested to know more about Nalissa Dragmire, so I thought writing about her life with Ganondorf as a father would be interesting. I wanted to convey how evil Ganondorf was or possibly show how he slowly got more and more evil throughout the years, but now I feel like I just have no clue how to wrap it up. I've written pretty much everything that could tie into the events of BITDS. So I'm either going to just cut the story off where it is, or if I get enough reviews or PMs with possible ideas of what could happen next or what YOU GUYS would like to see happen, then I won't give up on it. But feel free to drop in and review, and please be honest. I feel like writing more would just drag the story out pointlessly. If you agree, feel free to say so. If you disagree, also feel free to say so. I mainly want to hear YOUR GUYS' thoughts on it, since it's you guys that keep these stories going. **

**So again, sorry for any inconvenience. Please feel free to voice your opinions. I need to know if you feel like the story's worth continuing and if you will continue to read it or if you instead believe that by writing more the story would drag on. Thanks again to everyone who's followed this story and also BITDS. You guys are awesome! So your opinions matter a lot to me! **


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thank you to everybody who responded to my previous Author's Note. **

**I'm happy to say that after a long break from writing and reading all the reviews and PM's I got, I have decided not to quit this story. =D However, we ARE very close to the end. **

**I want to thank everyone who has been supporting this story along with Buried in the Desert Sands. If it weren't for you guys, these stories would not even exist. So thank you!**

**I also wrote a little one-shot about Ganondorf's thoughts and regrets he mulls over during his imprisonment in the Evil Realm. So just a little something extra for anyone who is interested in reading it. It's called "Nabooru: Ganondorf's Lament" and it's already posted up and can be found on my profile. ^-^ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from The Legend Of Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**Enjoy! =]**

Chapter 7

"Yah!" I shout, slapping Comet's flank and urging him to go faster. The white beast's hooves can be heard beating against the sandy floor.

We near the archery range quickly, and I prepare my bow. We sail past the first target, and I let my arrow fly.

Bull's eye.

"Yah!" I urge Comet forward again and take aim once more at the next target.

Bull's eye.

Third target: bull's eye.

I smile in victory as we near a taller target, suspended up high by a long wooden post.

I take aim and miss the red inner circle by a quarter of an inch.

"Darn it!" I shout in frustration. Comet rounds the corner and we begin heading back the other way.

I turn my body slightly so I'm facing the target I missed and take aim again.

There's my bull's eye.

Smiling, I turn and begin to take aim at the seven pots we have lined up underneath the targets.

I miss the second one, so I focus on getting the others.

Just before Comet and I near the finish line, I turn my body again and take aim at the pot I missed.

Even from this far away, I manage to break it just as we hit the finish line.

"YES!" I shout, grinning from ear to ear. Comet skids to a stop and whinnies, almost as if he were congratulating me. I leap off of him and give him a big hug. "Thank you." I tell him, kissing his nose. He snorts and stares into my eyes.

I love how he always looks me in the eyes, like he knows what I'm feeling and what I'm going through all the time. Actually, sometimes I think he does.

"Come on, boy. Let's get you some water." I tell him, leading him to the tent that provides shade for our livestock. I tie his reins to the post and begin filling a wooden basin with water just as I hear footsteps approaching.

I hear a loud gasp behind me.

I set the water down for Comet (who begins lapping it up happily) and sigh.

"Nalissa Dragmire! Just what in Din's name have you been doing up here? I've been looking for you all morning!" my mom shouts, eyeing the targets nervously. "Did you do the horseback archery challenge?"

"Yes Mom." I sigh exasperatedly. Finally I grin. "Look at all those bull's eyes."

Mom looks over in surprise before turning to me again with a look of pure concern.

"You know very well you're not supposed to shoot targets on horseback until you're eight and have been properly trained by a seasoned Elite. Do you know how dangerous horseback archery is? You could have seriously injured yourself!"

"But Mom! I'm eight in two days, plus Comet was bored! He doesn't like being cooped up all day; he deserved to go for a little sprint! And I think you should be happy I'm getting a head start on my training."

"But…"

"Mom, look at those bull's eyes again." I tell her, pointing. "Aren't you proud of me?" she looks at them for a minute, sighs, then turns to me again, her expression soft.

"Of course I am, sweetheart." I grin and she hugs me. "But I'm just concerned you might get hurt. You've never been properly trained on how to do this. Just promise me you'll wait to do this again until you start lessons, okay?"

"But Mom…"

"It's only two days." She says, grinning. I sigh.

"Okay." She smiles and pats my head.

"At this rate, you'll be an Elite by age twelve." She says, shaking her head in disbelief. "Let's walk back to our chambers." I nod and walk alongside her, smiling back at the targets I shot.

Mom has always been somewhat protective of me (seeing as I'm her only daughter, naturally any mother would be protective), but her protectiveness increased after that fateful night almost a year ago, when an intruder broke into my dad's tower and I killed him. You'd think she'd cool it with the protectiveness after that, seeing as I can take care of myself. But no, she worries even more now, possibly just because of the fact I was in such a dangerous situation and she wasn't there to protect me.

"Nali, is it okay if I invite Nadhiyah to your party?" I stop dead in my tracks.

"Nadhiyah?" I say with disgust.

"Yes, her mother just fell incredibly ill and she deserves to be around girls her age right now." I sigh.

I hate that girl with a passion, but I'd never wish anything bad upon anyone's family, no matter what they did to offend me.

"Sure, you can invite her." I say. Mom smiles and pinches my cheek.

"Thank you for being sweet." I pout and rub the spot she pinched my cheek.

I hate having my cheeks pinched.

"But anyway, I thought I made it clear I did NOT want a party." I grumble. Mom turns and grins down at me.

"And I thought I made it clear that no matter whether you want one or not, I will ALWAYS throw birthday parties for you. Your birthday is a cause for celebration, Nali. You're incredibly special, and you're destined to do great things." I sigh and roll my eyes.

"Birthday parties are lame…"

"Since when?"

"Since I am old enough to be ranked. I'm practically an adult!" Mom snorts and ruffles my hair.

"Come on, Squirt." She says, jogging ahead. My competitive streak gets the best of me and I race after her.

I love my mom.

She's awesome.

XXX

"Happy birthday, Nalissa!"

Is what I wake up to this morning.

I sit up slowly, yawn, stretch, and then rub my eyes.

When I open my eyes, I see Mom sitting there holding a very long present, smiling eagerly.

"What's this?" I ask, taking the wrapped present.

"It's your birthday gift, silly." She smiles. "You can use them now that you're finally going to be ranked."

I open it to find a box. Curiously, I remove the lid to find two sheathed scimitars. The sheaths are dark blue and stitched with gold designs.

I smile in admiration as I take a scimitar out to look it over.

The blade is so polished I can see my reflection almost clearly, and the hilt is gold encrusted with rubies.

"They are AWESOME!" I shout, swinging one gently to test its weight.

"How does it feel?"

"Perfect! Not too heavy for me like Daddy's. Oh, Mom! Thank you so much! I promise that I'll use them everyday!" I put the scimitar back in its sheath and throw my arms around her.

Mom laughs and returns the hug.

XXX

My birthday party came and went…it was all a dull blur.

It's not that I mind having all my friends and favorite adults over; I love spending time with them. It's the fact that no one else in the whole fortress has birthday parties because they can't afford them. I get them because I'm the "princess" (I still hate that word with a passion) and everyone treats me as such at these parties, even my friends. My friends usually treat me normally except at my parties when they are in the presence of my mom or my dad (who was actually here for this party and even gave a speech about how proud he was to have me turn eight and be ranked…he almost made me tear up. But as a Gerudo, I can't show emotion like that in front of others).

But nonetheless, I had more fun there than I normally do…probably because I'm actually excited to be turning eight.

Even Nadhiyah was nice. I apologized to her about her mom, and she actually hugged me! She was nice to Andalee too.

I got measured for my uniform the next day, and two days later it was ready for me…while for normal people it usually takes anywhere from a week or two.

That's another perk to being the Gerudo "Princess". Anything ordered for the "princess" is top priority and gets finished faster.

This is the one thing I'm actually psyched about being the "princess" for, though. The sooner I get my uniform means…the sooner I can start training!

I take my stance with my scimitars, circling my opponent Asalah. She was recently ranked too, and we've already begun our training. This time, my mom was appointed to overlook the training since our teacher is on "maternity leave"…whatever that means.

I never take my eyes off Asalah.

Come on, make a move already.

As if on cue, she lunges at me. I quickly roll to the side, attempt a Gerudo spin attack, and actually manage to knock her to the floor. I pin her down to signify my victory.

"Game over." I declare.

"Enough!" I hear Mom shout. "Good practice, Nalissa." She says. "Shake hands with your opponent." I help Asalah up and shake her hand. She glares at me bitterly and walks away, but I don't let it bother me.

I'm in way too much of a good mood to let something like that get me down.

"Excellent." Mom says, looking quite proud. "Come, Nalissa. You need to practice archery now." I sheath my scimitars and walk alongside her to the archery range.

As we're walking, I can't help but notice how dark Mom's skin is. I look down at my own arm next to hers and although I'm also a bronze color, she's much darker, especially when I hold my arm up in comparison to hers.

"Mom, why is my skin so much lighter than everyone else's?" she looks down at me, surprised at my question.

"It is the way the goddesses created you." She responds quickly and speeds up her pace.

"But you and Daddy are so dark, and Belina told me I look nothing like you."

"Never mind what Belina said. She's just jealous you're the princess." She says. I frown at her having called me "princess" and telling me my friends are "jealous" of me.

I don't want people to be jealous of me, especially my friends.

But I don't think Belina's jealous; she was just making an observation.

We stop at the archery range and I shoot a few arrows, not really paying attention to where they land. My mind is elsewhere.

"Mom, who was Nabooru?"

I've heard so much about this woman yet never met her. Nadhiyah (now that we're friends) was telling me of all the stories she'd heard about her. She sounds very admirable.

Mom looks extremely surprised for a minute…almost scared. But then she speaks.

"She was a Gerudo warrior. She was and still is your daddy's second-in-command. She's different now. She became corrupted so your daddy had to brainwash her so she wouldn't mess up his plans. Now she lives in the Spirit Temple. She still comes here every once in a while to give orders to some of the Gerudos, but she doesn't realize what she's doing. Because if she did, she'd try to steal you away." My arrow falls uselessly to the floor at this.

"Why would she want me?" I ask. Mom sighs.

"Well Nali, you are the princess of the Gerudo thieves. You are very valuable. Besides, Nabooru couldn't have babies. She liked your daddy and she was jealous of mommy being with him and so she tried to steal you away from us. Now she is brainwashed. So you are very much safe now."

I nod, satisfied with her answer, and shoot a bull's-eye.

"Great job, sweetie!" She shouts. "Let's go tell Daddy!"

"Daddy, Daddy! I shot a bull's-eye!" I shout at Dad.

I've gotten bull's eyes before, but never really told him about it, especially about the horseback archery challenge because Mom didn't want me telling him about that since I technically wasn't allowed to be doing that when I was seven.

"Good. Like your dad, huh?"

"Well she certainly has your stamina. You should have seen what she did to Asalah today during a spar." Mom says. Dad nods.

"Very good. You may play now." I hug him and sprint to my room.

When I get there, I take out my polishing kit and begin polishing my scimitars.

"Nali!" I hear Dad shout about five minutes later. I drop my cloth in surprise and it falls somewhere under my bed.

After deciding to retrieve it later, I cartwheel into the living room excitedly to see what he wants.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Go play with your friends. You're off for the rest of the day."

Off?

Sweet!

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaaah!" I shout, darting out of the room excitedly.

XXX

I returned to my chambers around five-thirty. After eating dinner, Dad ordered me to go study.

I sighed. I hate books…I'd rather be out in the action, sword fighting and such. But I did it without complaint, so here I am now in our personal library, bored out of my mind.

"Nali!" I hear a voice.

"Over here." I shout. Soon Katara appears and smiles at me.

She somehow looks different. Hmmm…

"Hey, Purple. Are you excited about being ranked?"

"Oh yes. It was the best day of my life, my eighth birthday. I love my training classes." She smiles.

"That's good! Nabooru would be so proud of you!" I look up from my book confusedly.

"What? Nabooru?"

"Oh, uh…yeah. She used to train the young girls. She would have liked you a lot." She says quickly.

"Oh." I say, frowning.

"Whatcha reading there?" she asks, as if trying to change the subject.

"It's apart of my home education. It's the history of Hyrule." I say in a bored tone of voice.

"Oh."

"So what brings you here?"

"I was actually wondering…um, how are you? Can I join you?"

"Sure. What type of books do you like?" I say, excited to put my book down and take a brief yet well-needed break.

"Um, I was actually wondering if your father had any books on brainwashing?"

"On brainwashing? Let me check." I say, reading the spines. "Oh, I don't see anything on it."

"Oh, well maybe a spell book?"

"Spell book…here's one. And another." I hand her two thick books.

"Thank you."

"Mm-hmm. Please have a seat." She sits and begins thumbing through the books.

Brainwashing…

That's random.

But then again, it IS Katara we're talking about here.

I shrug the matter off and continue reading about the "history of Hyrule"…yawn.

We read in silence for about ten minutes. I must have blanked out about fifty times. Checking the page I'm on, I'm only on page thirty-seven out of like three hundred thirty-two or something like that.

I flip to the end of the book to clarify how many pages there are.

Oh, it's three hundred thirty-six.

Even worse, even if just by four pages.

Four long, boring pages.

I sigh, knowing that there is no way I'll get through the whole thing tonight.

But I have to keep reading it until one of my parents tells me it's bedtime.

For once I'm actually looking forward to bedtime.

"What are you doing here?" a voice shouts, causing me to jump in surprise. It's Dad.

"I came to say hi to Nali. I was just leaving." Katara says. I jump up to give her a hug.

"Bye, Kat!" I say, causing her to smile.

"Later, Kiddo. Keep practicing your fighting!" Katara smiles at Dad, who doesn't look too amused. She waves at me and exits. I look up at him, hoping he'll tell me I can go to bed. His eyes darted over to the textbook, and then back to me pointedly. I sigh and sit back down to continue reading.

He makes his way over to the book Katara left open.

"Brainwashing." I hear him growl.

I continue reading for about two minutes before he speaks up.

"Nali, you can go to bed."

"Okay!" I shout excitedly, slamming the book shut and hugging him. "Goodnight Daddy."

He grumbles a response and I rush back to my room.

As I'm changing into my pajamas, I notice my cloth I'd forgotten about earlier under my bed.

I get on my hands and knees and retrieve the cloth, but then pause as I notice a little slip of paper next to it. Curiously, I take the paper. It's folded up and looks old.

I unfold it and read.

"_To my sweet little angel on her first birthday. Happy Birthday Nalissa! – Love, Nabooru_."

My heart skips a beat.

Nabooru knew me?

Wow, things are getting weird lately.

I quickly run to the hallway to ask Dad about it, but then pause as I hear voices.

I sigh at the realization that he has yet another woman over.

Oh well, I guess I'll just talk to Mom about it in the morning.

I crawl into bed and sink underneath my covers, clutching the note tightly in my hand so I won't forget.

**A/N: So there you have it. We're finally starting to catch up to the final events of Buried in the Desert Sands!**

**Don't forget to leave a review! Not leaving reviews is like not filling a car up with gas and expecting it to run…wait, actually that'd be awesome. Haha j/k, but please, feel free to voice your opinion about the story.**

**Again, thank you everyone who supported this story and the other. And don't forget to check out "Nabooru: Ganondorf's Lament" on my profile if you're interested. =] **

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! Yes, I know…updating twice in one week? No way! But yes, 'tis true. **

**We are coming to an end here. And a lot of the dialogue in this was taken from Buried In The Desert Sands, but just from Nalissa's point of view and her personal thoughts about everything.**

**Also, I have had quite a few people say they'd like to see an alternate ending to BITDS, such as Ganondorf realizing his mistakes and becoming a nurturing father to Nalissa and a loving husband to Nabooru. The reason I did not put that in the original story was because it wouldn't follow the timeline of The Legend Of Zelda, and I wanted to remain true to the series. However, this IS a fanfiction site, and people change things around all the time…it's perfectly okay. So since I have gotten a few requests from readers to do this type of thing, I just MIGHT do a one-shot about it, if more people are interested. But I have a few ideas on how to go about doing that.**

**Either A: Ganondorf realizes his mistakes himself and goes about making things right.**

**B: Nabooru decides NOT to help the sages put him away and the family runs away together.**

**Or C: Nalissa-now an adult-immediately following the ending of BITDS (if you remember-she chose NOT to remember her dad but Nabooru ended up telling her about him anyway) decides she wants to find a way to break her father's curse just to be able to speak to him face-to-face just to ask why he did the things he did, and after he's freed he finds Nabooru to make peace. **

**I think that any of these would work, but I'm leaning more towards Choice A-in my opinion, Ganondorf should realize his own mistakes. Choice B seems unlikely to happen seeing as Nabooru-as any woman would- probably HATED Ganondorf beyond belief at that point for what he did to her and Nalissa. Option C was another one that captured my interest as I pondered it-it seems like something a curious child would do, but I don't think it'll fit into that one-shot alternate ending. Because at that point Ganondorf already missed out completely on Nali's childhood PLUS Nabooru had already remarried at that point. However, this thought has captured my attention quite a bit, so in the future I might write something pertaining to that to where Nalissa searches for ways to break his curse just to speak with him…however realizes he only cares about power and has to make a tough decision to seal him away again (plus Nalissa deserves a real adventure-who wants to see her all grown up and fighting like an Elite? :P).**

**Anyway, I don't want to make a sure decision until I have the reader's opinions on this. So which option do you guys like, if any? As I said, it will most likely just be a one-shot so it doesn't break the flow of BITDS-just a treat for those of you who want to see something like this happen-and for those of you who don't, you won't even have to read it seeing as it will be separate from the storyline. =) That way everyone's happy.**

**So again, thank you everyone who supported this. It makes me happy when I read reviews with requests like this as well because it shows me that you guys can't get enough of my writing and characters, which of course would make any writer feel great. So thank you. =)**

**Sorry for the long Author's Note, and if you're still reading at this point, THANK YOU AGAIN! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gerudos, Gerudo Fortress, Ganondorf, or anything from The Legend Of Zelda…I do however own any OC's that appear, mainly Nalissa/Nali, Kali, and Katara/Kat.**

**Enjoy! =]**

Chapter 8

"Nali, wake up, Sweetie." Is what I wake up to. Groaning, I turn around to see who it is. Standing there is Katara.

"Kat?" I whisper confusedly, rubbing my eyes.

"Yes, it's me, Sweetie. Listen, I need to tell you something very important. They're grownup matters, and I cannot tell you here. We must leave." I shoot up immediately.

"Where's my mom and my daddy?" I ask, having a sinking feeling in my gut.

"Shh! They're fine. I need to tell you something serious, but we need to leave. Put on your coat and shoes quickly. It's a cold night." I hop out of bed quickly to scramble for my shoes and coat.

I'm extremely anxious. I mean…what's going on for Kat to randomly come into my room in the middle of my night to try and get me to leave with her in a rush? That's not normal. But I know she won't tell me until later, so despite the fact I want to burst with questions, I decide to hold off until later.

"Where did you get this, Sweetie?" I hear Kat whisper as I slip into my shoes.

Hmmm?

Oh, she sees the note I'd had in my hand when I was sleeping.

"I was cleaning my room today and found it under my bed. I kept it in my hand when I fell asleep so I'd remember to bring it up to my mom in the morning. I didn't know until now that the great Nabooru knew me when I was only one." Kat sighs as I slip on my coat.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Come Sweetie, and put your hood over your head and your bandana around your nose and mouth." I stare in confusion. "I'll explain in a minute." She says.

I do as she says and put my hood and bandana on just as she leads me away briskly.

So now she's disguising me.

Who is she trying to hide me from?

Trying to put two and two together-like how earlier Mom told me Nabooru wanted to kidnap me-and now how when I talked about Nabooru to Kat, she said "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about" makes me wonder if she's hiding me from this Nabooru?

"So Kat, who are you trying to hide me from?" I finally ask, unable to keep quiet anymore.

Things are getting weird, and they're really starting to creep me out.

"You're a very clever girl." Kat sighs. "Just like your mother. She would have been so proud of you, too."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'she would have been proud'?" I ask, getting a weird feeling.

We make it out of the fortress and cross the bridge.

"Nali, no…Nalissa, I want to tell you something. You might be very upset at first, but you must promise me that you'll take it like a mature young Gerudo. Can you promise me that?"

"Yeah. What is it?" I ask immediately, unable to continue not knowing.

"I used to be best friends with Nabooru. She was probably the most skilled fighter among the whole fortress. At sixteen, she was a Green, and she fought Kali for the position of an Elite. Kali barely won, but the Elites were so impressed with Nabooru that they moved her up to a Blue. Well, with a strange event, she met your father, and he was so interested in her, he gave her a highly dangerous task that no other woman would do…not even his Elites."

"Cowards." I mumble. Kat smirks and continues.

"Nabooru completed the task, moved up to an Elite, and became your father's second-in-command."

"At sixteen…" I breathe in admiration.

"Yes. Well she and your dad became involved in a relationship, and soon they got married. At eighteen she gave birth to a baby girl, and Ganondorf was the father."

"I have a big sister I don't know of?" I ask confusedly.

"Not exactly."

"The baby didn't die, did she?" I ask again.

"Clever ideas, but allow me to finish. Anyway, Nabooru really didn't like Kali much. Kali was always jealous of the attention the king gave to Nabooru and not her."

"But he had to have given her attention at some point, though, because they're together now." Kat nods.

"Yes, clever girl. Exactly. He began liking Kali while he was still with poor Nabooru. So Nabooru and Kali got in a huge fight over him. They both almost killed each other. They each got gravely injured. Your father wasn't happy with Nabooru, and he took Kali's side. He said he was going to dump Nabooru off in the middle of the desert and he was going to marry Kali and have Kali raise his daughter and pretend to be her mother."

"That's mean. I can't believe Daddy would…" My voice trails off and my eyes widen in realization. "Kat, did Nabooru have light skin?"

"Well, she wasn't exactly what you'd call 'light skinned', but she was noticeably lighter than the majority of us."

"So wait, this baby…what was her name?" by now we're at the moat surrounding Hyrule Castle Town.

"Nalissa, the baby was you." I stare in shock.

Me…the daughter of the exalted Nabooru? Am I dreaming?

"You're not related to Kali at all. Nabooru is your real mother, and she loved you very much. Your father dumped her in the desert and then brainwashed her. Now she operates from the Spirit Temple. Ganondorf rarely lets her come to the hideout for fear that she might snap out of her brainwashing. I know you love your dad, and that's all natural. But he is not a nice man to anyone who opposes him. He hurts and kills a lot of people."

"I know." I whisper. "I know he's not a nice man because I've seen him punish people. He made me watch him kill a Hylian boy when I was seven. He tried to make me do it, but I refused. So he made me watch him do it. I was crying and when he saw me crying, he told me to calm down and get used to it because I would be following in his footsteps one day." I start shaking as I piece together all the horrible things I've witnessed my dad do. "He and Mom…I mean Kali, got in a fight the other day, and I watched from my room. He was hitting her a lot. He does it all the time. I try not to say anything because I don't want to anger him. I don't want him to hit me again like last time…" I start to cry, and Kat puts her hand on my shoulder. "I just want him to be proud of me…without having to kill anybody. I always feel like he doesn't like me, and when he tells me I did a good job on my tests and fighting practices, it makes me feel really happy. But he keeps telling me he'll truly be proud of me if I kill someone, but I don't want to kill…it's not right. And he'll never be proud of me if I can't do that, but I don't care. I don't want to kill. I don't…I don't want to be like him." I don't mention the time I've already killed…that was self-defense, plus even thinking about it still gives me nightmares. Kat nods her head in understanding. "And he brings different women home a lot. Kali doesn't know, and he thinks I don't know either. But I see lots of women coming in. He kisses them and holds them and tells each of them that she's his favorite. Then they go in the bedroom. I may be only eight, but I know and also don't like to think about what they do in there." Tears pour down my face, feeling somewhat relieved I can finally get this off of my chest to somebody…I've never told a soul about any of this before. "Kat." I whisper.

"Yes Sweetie?"

"Why are you telling me all of this now? About Nabooru and my dad and all of this?"

"Well your dad brainwashed not only Nabooru but every Gerudo who opposed him, including me, seven years ago. I just escaped my brainwashed state today. I helped as many Gerudos as I could out of theirs as well. I made a promise to Nabooru – your mother – to bust you out of Gerudo's Fortress. For one, I don't trust the king because he's become way too dangerous and now that you told me all of this, I'm positive he's just using you to become a merciless killer, and two, I think he knows I'm not brainwashed anymore, so I wanted to do this soon before I get brainwashed again."

I nod in understanding.

So that must be why Kat appeared different today. And also why she was researching brainwashing.

We hold hands and cross the broken drawbridge. Me, well I can't stop thinking about how horrible of a person my dad has been. I think it's safe to say I need to just let go of the idea he'll ever be truly good.

Looking up, I notice that not only is every house here abandoned and destroyed, but there are also these odd zombie-like creatures everywhere. They're moaning and apparently have taken notice of us. We scream immediately upon notice.

"Let's leave!" Kat shouts, running. I try to follow until this shrill scream sends chills down my spine. All of the sudden I'm frozen in place…literally. I can't move a muscle at all! A zombie creature jumps on my back and starts trying to strangle me. Finally I can move again, but I can't get this creepy thing off of me!

"Help, Kat!" I manage to croak. Kat slices the creature across the back with her scimitar, causing it to moan in pain and fall off of me.

"Run!" Kat shouts. I need no further convincing.

"What were those things?" I shriek as we bound over the moat.

"ReDeads." She answers.

"They're scary! One screeched at me and suddenly I couldn't move!"

"That's a defense mechanism of theirs. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just a little bit shaken up." Kat looks off in the distance, as if thinking about something.

"I'm going to drop you off at that ranch, then I'm going to try to go to the Spirit Temple and free Nabooru of her brainwashing. If I achieve that I'll send her to the ranch and you two can be reunited." She tells me. I look down at my feet, knowing all too well who was behind the sinister events at the marketplace.

"Daddy caused that, didn't he?" I whisper.

"What?"

"The ReDeads and all those destroyed houses. He did that, didn't he?" Kat sighs.

"Yes, he is responsible."

"How many families has he hurt and killed?" I murmur.

"I couldn't tell you. Now come on, we'd better hurry before Ganondorf realizes you're missing."

"I don't want to follow in his footsteps." I whisper.

"You won't have to. Just stay in the ranch for a little while. Nabooru will find you and you will be reunited." We break into a run for the ranch.

XXX

Kat briefly explains the situation to the rancher's daughter Malon-a friendly red-haired girl.

"So would it be too much trouble to take her in for the night?" Kat asks. Malon shakes her head.

"Of course not! You do what you need to do, and I guarantee you we'll take great care of this little girl." Malon says, putting her arms around me. I give her a light-hearted smile, still depressed about my dad.

"Thank you so much." Kat breathes, getting down on one knee to look me in the eyes. "Listen Nali, no matter what happens, STAY HERE." She says firmly. "Don't leave, definitely DON'T come back to the fortress. Stay put. I will come back for you, hopefully with your mom. I love you."

"I love you too Kat!" I whisper, fighting back tears. Kat hugs me tightly, pulls away, and stands up.

"See you in a bit." She whispers, waving as she takes off.

I want to follow after her, but I promised her I would stay here. I have a bad feeling about her returning to the fortress.

What if Kali and Ganondorf found out I've been missing? What if she gets caught?

"Come on Sweetheart, come inside where it's nice and warm." Malon tells me, leading me inside the house.

I can't shake this foreboding feeling.

Kat, please come back safe. You're like a second mom to me…

**A/N: So we're finishing up!**

**Remember to state in either a review or PM if you want to see that one-shot I mentioned earlier. Or if you don't want to see it, either way! I just need to hear some feedback from the opinions that matter most!**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: So this is the final chapter of "Through Nalissa's Eyes". I apologize for the shortness, but you also have the alternate ending to BITDS to look forward to, which will be posted up today (as of 08/03/12) right after this.**

**The reason it's short isn't to wrap things up quickly, it's just that it's a lot of repeated information from BITDS. And everything is pretty much tied up anyway. I did, however, add a scene between Nalissa and her new hubby. I hope you guys enjoy it…and don't forget to check my profile for the alternate ending of BITDS if you're interested. :)**

**Disclaimer: I only own any OC'S that appear, such as Nalissa, Katara, Kali, and Timothy. Anything related to Nintendo and/or the Zelda series belongs to Nintendo.**

Chapter 9

I couldn't sleep all night…I was much too worried.

I got maybe ten minutes of sleep at the most…but when I opened my eyes a minute ago, looking out the window I noticed there was already some light in the sky.

I run down the stairs to find the nice ranch girl, but pause when I hear voices coming from outside. I quickly dart to open the door to the house.

Standing there is the ranch girl, Kat, Kali, and an unfamiliar Gerudo.

"Kat? Kali? What's going on? Is everything all r–?" my voice trails off as I notice the unfamiliar person. Her eyes fill with tears upon seeing me. She looks a lot…like me… "You're…my mother?" I whisper. Tears pour down her face as she gets on her knees to be more eye-level with me. I walk forward slowly.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you the past seven years, but it wasn't exactly my fault."

"I know. Kat told me everything."

"Nalissa, your mother was talking to Kali and me on the way here. She got out of her brainwashing spell and turns out that she's the Sage of Spirit and she helped seal Ganondorf away in the Evil Realm. We also told her everything about the brainwashing's taking place at the hideout and Kali pretending to be your mother. She knows everything." Katara says.

"I'm so sorry, Nali – I mean, Nalissa. I never should have done what I did to your mother – your real mother – and you. I should have told you the truth, and I hope you can one day find it in your heart to forgive me, like your kind mother has." I see my mom and Kali exchange friendly smiles…so I guess that means that they don't hate each other anymore.

That's good, because even though Kali lied to me my whole life and did such a horrible thing to my real mother, I still love her like my real mom.

"Oh, Nalissa…you're eight already, and they told me how skilled you are with a sword and bow! And you are just as beautiful as I imagined you'd be." She starts crying, causing me to start crying too.

There's so much I want to ask her…I want to get to know so much about her.

"Mommy!" I cry, throwing my arms around her.

"How sweet." I hear the ranch girl say.

"I'm going to be with you now, and I won't let anybody separate us again!" Mom tells me.

"It's gonna be hard to get used to, but I think we'll manage." I say with a slight smile.

"Why don't you all start over from scratch?" says a voice. We all turn to see a woman with white hair and amber eyes.

"Impa!" Mom says. "What are you…?"

"I got word from Rauru to look for you and tell you that Princess Zelda is sending Link back in time seven years to relive the childhood he missed out on. You as a sage can use your powers to make people who want to remember all of this remember, and those who don't you can make forget."

"I want to remember all this. This wasn't the greatest seven years, but, I want to remember all the hardships we went through to become friends." Says Kat.

"I want to remember too." Kali mutters.

"I would like to remember!" Malon agrees.

"Me too." Mom says. She looks at me.

"Nalissa, since you are eight and ranked, I'll give you a choice. You can remember your dad and Kali and all this or you can choose to forget. That way if you forget, we can start over and I can be your mother, like I was meant to be."

Hmmm.

I _want_ to know of all this even though it's not a pleasant story, but I don't want to _remember_ it. All the pain we went through, everything that went wrong, how I failed to get through to my dad…

"I think I should forget. I do care for Ganondorf since he was my dad, and I'll miss him if I remember. I would also like to forget the horrifying images he gave me of him murdering people." Everyone grimaces at this. "I want to start over with you, Mom, and have you as my real mother. But when you think I am old and mature enough, I want you to tell me. Tell me all of this, so I can think back on it and realize how grateful I am to have chosen to forget about all this." Nabooru nods.

"That's a very mature answer, young one." She says.

"We must hurry. I can sense Zelda playing the song right now." Says Impa. Mom focuses her sage powers on letting Malon, Katara, Kali, and herself remember as everything around us fades as we are sent back seven years before.

XXX

22 Years Later

Just as our horse-drawn carriage leads us off to our honeymoon in Great Bay, I quickly poke my head out the window.

There's Mom, Kali, Kat and her two kids. I mouth the words "Bye Mommy" which causes my mom to smile.

A lot has happened.

Back in the desert, I became an Elite at 13 years of age. Everyone told me that was a big feat seeing as that's the youngest age ever recorded for an Elite.

The Gerudo race is dying back home. The king of Hyrule got so fed up with our raids he planned a massacre. Impa warned us and so we got everyone we needed to out of there and came to live here in Termina.

My mom told me everything about my father when I was 14. I'm glad I chose to forget, because that would've been extremely painful to remember all that.

I smile at my new husband Timothy, who kisses my forehead and embraces me.

"Nali, you have just made me the happiest man alive." I smile and kiss him.

"And you've made me the happiest woman. I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses me back.

So even though not many years ago my future looked bleak, this is where I ended up…incredibly happy and surrounded by people that love me.

**Author's Note: So there you have it. Thank you again to everyone who supported these stories. You guys are awesome. :)**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**


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